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Our Next Lecture

The Role of Family Members in PTSD Treatment

Johanna Thompson-Hollands, PhD

Wednesday, February 16 at 2:00pm ET 

About the Presenter

JOHANNA THOMPSON-HOLLANDS, PhD is a staff investigator in the National Center for PTSD (Behavioral Science Division) at VA Boston Healthcare System and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on the role of family and social support in PTSD, with an emphasis on understanding how family engagement may improve treatment retention and outcomes among veterans. In addition to directly testing the impact of family involvement through clinical trials, she has also conducted mixed methods work with veterans, family members, and providers to understand diverse stakeholder perspectives on family involvement in VA care. Dr. Thompson-Hollands has current or past funding from VA CSR&D, HSR&D, and NIMH.

About the Topic

Including family members or other support persons in a veteran’s course of PTSD treatment may be beneficial, as research shows that there are important bidirectional impacts between the social environment and PTSD symptoms. However, it is relatively rare for veterans to have one or more family-inclusive treatment sessions during the course of their PTSD treatment. This presentation will provide information from the perspectives of veterans, family members, and VA clinicians regarding family-inclusive care. We will discuss veterans’ and family members’ goals for family-inclusive PTSD treatment. We will also present providers’ views and experiences, including discussions of the most commonly cited barriers to providing family-inclusive care. The presentation will include specific advice about how and when to discuss family involvement in care with veterans, as well as outlining a number of brief protocols that have been developed specifically for veterans and their loved ones.

Featured Article

PTSD and the Family

Because PTSD and other trauma reactions change how a trauma survivor feels and acts, traumatic experiences that happen to one member of a family can affect everyone else in the family. When trauma reactions are severe and go on for some time without treatment, they can cause major problems in a family. This page describes family members' reactions to the traumatic event and to the survivor's symptoms and behaviors.

Read the full article

Free Resources

Helping a Loved One

Consider sharing these free resources with the family members of Veterans you are treating:

• Helping a Family Member Who Has PTSD
  Ways you can help a loved one with PTSD and ways you can help yourself.
• Cognitive Processing Therapy: Helping During Treatment
  If someone you love is starting CPT, learn about the treatment and how you can offer support.
• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR): Helping During Treatment
  If someone you love is starting EMDR, learn how you can support your loved one during treatment.
• Prolonged Exposure: Helping During Treatment
  If someone you love is starting Prolonged Exposure (PE), learn about the treatment and how you can offer support.
• Grief: Helping Someone Else After a Loss
  Learn strategies to support someone grieving a loss.

Explore our Family and Friends section for more resources.  

Do you want to talk with one of our consultants about how to involve Veteran family members in treatment?  Reach out to us today.  

Non-VA Providers Can Apply for Free Training in Assessment of PTSD and Suicide Risk

The PTSD Consultation Program, in collaboration with VA's Suicide Risk Management Consultation Program and the Center for Deployment Psychology, is offering free online 2-day comprehensive training in the assessment of PTSD and suicide risk.  Sessions in 2022 include:

March 8-9    May 16-27    July 26-27

APPLY TODAY

Free continuing education credit is available.

Our team of experts will cover:

• Military culture
• How to assess and diagnose PTSD
• Essential treatment recommendations
• How to identify and assess suicide risk
• Lethal means safety
• Safety planning

Are you treating U.S. Veterans?

Our team of expert clinicians is available to consult with any healthcare provider treating U.S. veterans in any setting.   We can discuss assessment, diagnosis, psychotherapy, medications, collaborating with VA care, patient and family education, continuing education, and just about anything else related to veterans and PTSD.  No question is too big or too small. Contact us at PTSDconsult@va.gov or 866-948-7880.