PTSD: National Center for PTSD

Shannon M. Kehle-Forbes, PhD

Research Investigator

Women's Health Sciences Division

Email: Shannon.Kehle-Forbes@va.gov

Academic Appointment

• University of Minnesota Medical School, Professor of Medicine

Education

• Minneapolis VA Healthcare System, Associated Health Postdoctoral Fellowship in Health Services Research
• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Clinical Psychology, PhD
• University of Wisconsin - Madison, Psychology & Sociology, BA

Expertise and Interests

• Hybrid Type 1 randomized clinical trials examining the clinical effectiveness & implementation of trauma-focused therapies for PTSD
• Treatment of PTSD and co-occurring conditions (e.g., substance use disorder, trauma-related grief, suicidal ideation)
• Adherence to evidence-based treatments for PTSD
• Sex differences in treatment seeking behaviors and treatment response

Featured Publications

Alpert, E., Kaplan, A., Nelson, D., Oslin, D. W., Polusny, M. A., Ingram, E. P., & Kehle-Forbes, S. M. (2024). Clusters based on within-treatment symptom trajectories as predictors of dropout in treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder. Journal of Dual Diagnosis, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/15504263.2024.2355953 PTSDpubs id1634972 (PDF)

Kehle‐Forbes, S. M., Baier, A. L., Ackland, P. E., Spoont, M., Polusny, M. A., Schnurr, P. P., Galovski, T., & Meis, L. (2025). “It made me feel more alive”: A qualitative analysis of quality of life improvements following completion of trauma‐focused therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 38(1), 158-164. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.23091 PTSDpubs id1636980 (PDF)

Kehle-Forbes, S. M., Galovski, T., Polusny, M. A., Possemato, K., Nugent, S., McManus, E., & Baier, A. L. (2023). Development and pilot test of a therapist-assisted self-management program for completers of trauma-focused therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 32(1), 91-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2023.08.002 PTSDpubs id1625446 (PDF)

Kehle-Forbes, S. M., Nelson, D., Norman, S. B., Schnurr, P. P., Shea, M. T., Ackland, P. E., Meis, L., Possemato, K., Polusny, M. A., Oslin, D., Hamblen, J. L., Galovski, T., Kenny, M., Babajide, N., & Hagedorn, H. (2022). Comparative effectiveness of trauma-focused and non-trauma-focused psychotherapy for PTSD among Veterans with comorbid substance use disorders: Protocol & rationale for a randomized clinical trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 120, 106876. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2022.106876 PTSDpubs id1598074 (PDF)

Kehle-Forbes, S. M., Ackland, P. E., Spoont, M. R., Meis, L. A., Orazem, R. J., Lyon, A., Valenstein-Mah, H. R., Schnurr, P. P., Zickmund, S. L., Foa, E. B., Chard, K. M., Alpert, E. & Polusny, M. A. (2022). Divergent experiences of US Veterans who did and did not complete trauma-focused therapies for PTSD: A national qualitative study of treatment dropout. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 154, 104123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2022.104123 PTSDpubs id1593982 (PDF)

Find a full list of my publications on NIH.

Key Projects

• Comparative effectiveness trial comparing Present Centered Therapy to Trauma-Focused Therapy for Veterans with PTSD and substance use disorders
• Pilot RCT evaluating the impact of a therapist-assisted self-management program (EMPOWER) for Veterans who have completed trauma-focused therapy
• RCT examining massed versus weekly Prolonged Exposure Therapy for Veterans with PTSD and substance use disorders in intensive outpatient substance use treatmen

Membership in Professional Societies

• International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
• Association for Behavioral & Cognitive Therapies

Members of the press interested in scheduling an interview please see the contact for the media page.