A NEWSLETTER FOR PROVIDERS WHO TREAT VETERANS

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• Upcoming Lectures
• Featured Article
• Free Resources

Our Next Lecture

Treating Comorbid PTSD and Borderline Personality Disorder

Melanie Harned, PhD, ABPP

Wednesday, August 20 at 2:00pm ET 

Photo by Kaboompics

About the Presenter

MELANIE HARNED, PhD, ABPP is the Coordinator of the DBT Program at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle Division. She is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington. Previously, Dr. Harned served as the Research Director of Dr. Marsha Linehan’s Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics (2006-2018), Director of Research and Development at Behavioral Tech (2014-2017), and Director of Behavioral Tech Research (2013-2016). Her research has focused on developing and evaluating the DBT Prolonged Exposure protocol for PTSD as well as strategies for implementing evidence-based treatments into clinical practice. She regularly provides training and consultation nationally and internationally in DBT and DBT PE and has published extensively on these treatments. Dr. Harned is licensed as a psychologist in the state of Washington, certified as a DBT Clinician by the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification, certified as a PE therapist and supervisor, and board certified in Behavioral and Cognitive  Psychology.

About the Topic

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) are commonly comorbid disorders. Individuals with both disorders exhibit greater impairment than those with either disorder alone, including higher rates of suicidal and non-suicidal self-injury, more comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders, greater emotion dysregulation, and worse overall functioning. Although VA treatment guidelines recommend trauma-focused therapy as a first-line intervention for Veterans with PTSD, many providers are hesitant to deliver these treatments to patients with BPD due to their greater impairment. This presentation aims to provide information that will help providers make informed decisions about which PTSD treatment approaches are likely to be safe and effective for individuals with BPD of varying levels of severity. Research that has evaluated stand-alone, phase-based, and integrated treatment approaches for PTSD among individuals with BPD will be reviewed and recommendations for how best to match these research-supported treatments to patients with BPD based on their overall level of disorder will be provided.

Upcoming Lectures

Featured Article

Trauma, PTSD, and Physical Health

Exposure to psychological trauma is known to negatively affect physical health, especially when such trauma leads to PTSD. Physical health may be assessed by a health care provider or by self-report, and PTSD has been linked to both objective and subjective measures. This article provides information on the relationships among trauma, PTSD, and physical health.

Read this newly revised article

Free Resources

Moral Injury on AboutFace

The AboutFace video gallery now includes a topic page on moral injury and PTSD.  The text on the page is interspersed with clips of video interviews with Veterans and providers discussing moral injury and PTSD and how treatment helped.

The page also includes two longer (5 minute) video stories in which Veterans talk in their own words about how moral injury affected their lives — and how they've found healing and support in treatment. 

Additional content will be added later this year.

Explore the all of the content:

Moral Injury and PTSD on AboutFace

Videos in Spanish

Our collection of educational videos for patients and their families now includes two videos in Spanish that discuss what PTSD is and options for treatment:   

¿Que es el TEPT o PTSD?

Opciones de tratamiento para el TEPT o PTSD

Each animated video is about 4 minutes in length and can be viewed on our website or on YouTube. 

See all of our animated videos

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.