My research focuses on ameliorating the symptoms of trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for civilians and Veterans. More specifically, the purpose of my research is to address two important areas: improving our existing PTSD treatments, and putting these treatments into the hands of more people.
PTSD is a debilitating psychological disorder and a major public health concern for civilians and Veterans alike (Sledjeski, Speisman, & Dierker, 2008). Although we have many fantastic, evidence-based PTSD treatments (see here for more info), they are far from perfect. First, PTSD treatments have historically suffered from significant dropout rates, preventing patients from receiving the full benefit (Hembree et al., 2003; Szafranski et al., 2014). Secondly, evidence-based PTSD treatments - while effective - can be difficult to implement in a real-world setting depending on the structure of the clinic or the support available to providers (Finley et al., 2015). These limitations are also exacerbated by the fact that access to adequate, evidence-based mental healthcare can be limited if a patient is not part of a privileged group or area (Kugelmass, 2016). Finally, large scale traumatic events, such as COVID-19 and increasingly frequent natural disasters, mean that demand for evidence-based treatment for trauma and PTSD will surge and people will need access to these treatments wherever they are at a price they can afford.