DBRDeep Brain Reorienting for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Stream 1: Military Veterans receiving the DBR Intervention:

Inclusion Criteria

• 18 to 65 years old
• Current or former military member / Veteran (for Stream 1 only)
• DSM-5 PTSD diagnosis determined via the CAPS-5
• If on psychiatric medications: stable ≥ 4 weeks
• Fluent in English
• Ability to provide informed consent and participate in therapy sessions
• Able to benefit from short-term therapy, as determined by study assessment

Exclusion Criteria

• High-risk clinical state (e.g., suicidal or homicidal intent; substance withdrawal) requiring acute intervention.
• History of moderate to severe head or brain injury leading to impaired functioning (e.g., a Glasgow Coma Scale Score < 15 at the time of incident assessed retrospectively by participant; sustained loss of consciousness leading to impaired functioning)
• Cognitive impairment limiting informed consent
• Significant untreated medical illness
• History of neurological disorder, pervasive developmental disorder, bipolar or psychotic disorder
• Alcohol/substance use problems within the last 3 months requiring medical withdrawal or likely to interfere with therapy.
• Degree of mental distress that is unlikely to benefit from a short-term therapy (for our participant's well-being, it will be necessary that we believe it possible to safely address the issues/triggers brought up in treatment within the 8 sessions).
• Any condition that, in the clinical opinion of study psychiatrists or clinicians, would make psychotherapy ineffective or unsafe, or that would interfere with study engagement and completion (e.g., homeless, ongoing psychosocial crisis, etc).

Other considerations:

Participants will be asked not to start any new PTSD treatments (medications or psychotherapy) 4 weeks prior to study enrollment and until study participation is complete.

If already taking psychiatric medications, doses must be stable for at least 4 weeks prior to enrolling in the study, and remain stable until study completion.

Participants in DBR stream must be able and willing to pause other trauma-focused psychotherapies (e.g., CPT, EMDR, exposure therapy) while receiving DBR in the study. Non-trauma focused therapies (e.g. CBT) or supportive talk with a therapist may continue.

We are currently actively recruiting participants for Stream 1 only, exclusively military veterans.