H. Patient Education

OBJECTIVE

Provide a therapeutic intervention that reduces the symptoms and functional impairments of PTSD.

BACKGROUND

Psychoeducation is a broad term that is often included as a component of other treatment interventions. The expert consensus guidelines on PTSD describe psychoeducation as educating patients and their families about the symptoms of PTSD and the various treatments that are available. They note that it is a useful adjunct therapy for patients with PTSD. In addition to education, reassurance is given that trauma related symptoms are normal and expectable shortly after a trauma and can often be overcome with time and treatment. Education about the symptoms and treatment of comorbid disorders may also be included. Psychoeducational group treatment models for PTSD treatment have been described for women with multiple traumas as well as combat veterans (Foa et al., 1999; Lubin et al., 1998).

DISCUSSION

Psychoeducation is regarded as a useful therapy by many clinicians, although it has not been the subject of any organized review, or well designed RCTs. There is one published efficacy trial of a psychoeducational group therapy for women who survived multiple traumas. Twenty-nine women were treated in a 16-week, trauma-focused inter-active psychoeducational group. The groups met for a brief psychoeducational lecture (15 minutes), followed by an interactive discussion with the therapist. However, there were cognitive behavioral components of the treatment. The cohort was all women, mean age 41, mean years since last trauma was 14, there were many comorbid disorders, over 80 percent were in ongoing individual therapy, and nearly 80 percent were taking psychotropics. The subjects demonstrated significant reductions in their PTSD symptoms on all subscales of the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), with a 50 percent reduction in symptoms from baseline. The recommendations for patient education are consistent with the clinical expert consensus guidelines (Foa et al., 1999).