PTSD: National Center for PTSD

PTSD Consultation Program: Training in Prolonged Exposure

CONTACT US PTSDconsult@va.gov or (866) 948-7880

Free Training for Providers Who Treat Veterans

The PTSD Consultation Program offers opportunities for licensed mental health providers who treat Veterans to receive free in-person training in Prolonged Exposure (PE) for PTSD followed by 6 months of weekly phone consultation. We are eager to help make this evidence-based treatment for PTSD more available to Veterans who seek care outside of a VA facility.

Prolonged Exposure

Prolonged Exposure is one of the most studied and most effective treatments for PTSD and is one of the therapies given the strongest recommendation in the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for PTSD. Learn more in our Overview of Psychotherapy for PTSD.

Training Commitment

Eligible providers will make a commitment to attend the in-person 3-day training and participate in free weekly telephone consultation with a PE expert over the course of several months following the training (until 2 training cases are completed).

Free post-training weekly phone consultation will be available to providers who meet the eligibility criteria of the Emory University Prolonged Exposure Consultant Training Program. Participants will be asked to provide proof of support from their employer for the use of time to participate in the training and consultation.

Date and Location

We hope to provide more training in 2023 and will post the dates and locations here when available.

Cost

Details about cost will be posted when trainings are announced.

Target Audience

Licensed mental health clinicians who provide psychotherapy for PTSD to U.S. Veterans. Priority will be given to providers who have the potential to see multiple Veteran patients and work in rural areas. Providers who work for a federal agency are not eligible. See our Resources page for more training options.

Application

We are not accepting applications at this time. Please see our Resources page for more training options.

Facts About PE

• Prolonged Exposure is one of the most studied and most effective treatments for PTSD (1,2)
• PE has the strongest recommendation in every major U.S. and international clinical practice guideline for the treatment of PTSD (3)
• Most people who go through PE show significant improvement in their PTSD symptoms (1)
• 54 out of every 100 people who receive a trauma-focused therapy like PE no longer have PTSD (4)
• Most patients prefer PE over medication for PTSD (5)
• PE works to treat PTSD in complicated patients with multiple traumas and comorbidities such as substance use disorder, depression, psychosis, and personality disorders (6-8)
• Dropout from PE is comparable to dropout from other PTSD psychotherapies (8-11)

References

1. Watts, B. V., Schnurr, P. P., Mayo, L., Young-Xu, Y., Weeks, W. B., & Friedman, M. J. (2013). Meta-analysis of the efficacy of treatments. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 74(6), e541-e550. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.12r08225
2. Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Work Group. (2017). VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder (Version 3.0). Washington D.C.: Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense. Retrieved from: https://www.healthquality.va.gov/guidelines/MH/ptsd
3. Hamblen, J. H., Norman, S. B., Sonia, J., Phelps, A., Bisson, J., Nunes, E. V., Megnin-Viggars, O., Forbes, D., Riggs, D. S., & Schnurr, P. P (2019). A guide to guidelines for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder: An update. Psychotherapy, 56(3), 359-373.
4. Hamblen, J. L., Grubbs, K. M., Cole, B., Schnurr, P. P., & Harik, J. M. (2022). "Will it work for me?" Developing patient-friendly graphical displays of posttraumatic stress disorder treatment effectiveness. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22808
5. Zoellner, L. A., Roy-Byrne, P. P., Mavissakalian, M., & Feeny, N. C. (2018). Doubly randomized preference trial of Prolonged Exposure versus sertraline for treatment of PTSD. American Journal of Psychiatry, 176(4), 287-296. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2018.17090995
6. Van Minnen, A., Harned, M. S., Zoellner, L., & Mills, K. (2012). Examining potential contraindications for prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 3(1), 18805. https://doi.org/10.3402/ejpt.v3i0.18805
7. Roberts, N. P., Roberts, P. A., Jones, N., & Bisson, J. I. (2015). Psychological interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder and comorbid substance use disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 38, 25-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2015.02.007
8. Back, S. E., Kileen, T., Badour, C. L., Flanagan, J. C., Allan, N. P., Santa Ana, E., Lozano, B., Korte, K. J., Foa, E. B., & Brady, K. T. (2019). Concurrent treatment of substance use disorders and PTSD using Prolonged Exposure: A randomized clinical trial in military Veterans. Addictive Behaviors, 90, 369-377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.11.032
9. Bradley, R., Greene, J., Russ, E., Dutra, L., & Westen, D. (2005). A multidimensional meta-analysis of psychotherapy for PTSD. American Journal of Psychiatry, 162, 214-227. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.162.2.214
10. Hembree, E. A., Foa, E. B., Dorfan, N. M., Street, G. P., Kowalski, J., & Tu, X. (2003). Do patients drop out prematurely from exposure therapy for PTSD?. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 16, 555-562. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:jpts.0000004078093012.7d
11. Imel, Z. E., Laska, K., Jakupcak, M., & Simpson, T. L. (2013). Meta-analysis of dropout in treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 81(3), 394-404. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031474