ABCT Lifetime Achievement Award Address

Friday, November 18 | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD: Where We Have Come and What is Next

Presented By:
Patricia A. Resick, Ph.D., ABPP, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke Health

Abstract:

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) was first developed 34 years ago, focusing on victims of rape.  Since clinical testing and a first study, CPT has been the subject or comparison group for dozens of randomized controlled trials, development studies, program evaluation studies, and many case studies with a range of traumas and populations across many countries.  Because CPT has been disseminated throughout the Department of Veterans Affairs since 2007, many studies of predictors of dropout, improvement, and completion have been conducted as well as newer studies on therapist factors on outcomes.  As I look ahead to my next retirement, I will look back at the evolution of CPT, in its various iterations and formats and then will anticipate the next stages of development with both the therapy protocol itself, as well as issues in implementation. The greatest challenge ahead is shared by other therapies as well, the regular adoption and use of evidence-based treatments in practice.  The next frontier is not the development of more therapies for PTSD but getting treatments that work into the hands of patients who need them and helping practitioners and agencies to adopt them as usual practice.

About the Presenter:

Patricia A. Resick, Ph.D., ABPP is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke Health and Adjunct Professor, Medical University of South Carolina.  After graduating with her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Georgia, Dr. Resick served as an Assistant and Associate Professor at the University of South Dakota. She also served as Associate to Full Professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and was awarded an endowed professorship, Curator’s Professor in 2000. During that period, she also founded and was the first Director of the Center for Trauma Recovery.  In 2003, Dr. Resick became the Director of the Women’s Health Sciences Division of the National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System and Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University.  In 2013, she moved to Duke University.  Dr. Resick’s specialty is in understanding and treating the effects of traumatic events, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In 1988, she developed Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD, a brief evidence-based treatment and has overseen multiple clinical trials. The treatment manual for CPT has been translated into 12 languages and has been formally disseminated throughout the Department of Veterans Affairs in the US, Canada and Australia, and now the Democratic Republic of Congo.  CPT is considered a first line therapy for PTSD. Dr. Resick’s research has been continuously funded for 40 years; she has published over 350 articles and chapters and 11 books on PTSD.  She has served as the President of both the International Society for Traumatic Stress and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.  She has won research and mentoring awards, as well as Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Trauma Division (56) of the American Psychological Association, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

Outline:

• Introduction of history of cognitive processing therapy (CPT)
• Evolution of CPT
  • Randomized Controlled Trials
  • Dismantling CPT
  • Flexible Length CPT
  • Massed CPT
• Adaptations across cultures
• Predictors of dropout and outcomes
  • Patient predictors
  • Therapist predictors
• Dissemination of CPT
  • Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Follow-up studies on dissemination
• How do we increase uptake and adoption into usual practice?

At the end of this session the learner will be able to:

• Identify components of cognitive processing therapy
• Describe at least three different formats of cognitive processing therapy
• Discuss problems with dissemination, implementation of evidence-based therapies for PTSD.

Recommended readings:

Resick, P.A., Monson, C.M., Chard, K. M. (2017). Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD: A Comprehensive Manual.  New York: Guilford.

Moring, J. C., Dondanville, K. A., Fina, B. A., Hassija, C., Chard, K., Monson, C., LoSavio, S. T., Wells, S. Y., Morland, L. A., Kaysen, D., Galovski, T. E., & Resick, P. A. (2020). Cognitive Processing Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder via Telehealth: Practical Considerations During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of traumatic stress, 10.1002/jts.22544. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22544

Resick, P.A., Wachen, J.S. Dondanville, K.A., LoSavio, S.T., Young-McCaughan, S. Yarvis, J.S., Pruiksma K.E., Blankenship, A., Jacoby, V., Peterson, A. L., Mintz, J; for the STRONG STAR Consortium (advanced online, 2021). Variable-Length Cognitive Processing Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Active Duty Military: Outcomes and Predictors, Behaviour Research and Therapy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2021.103846.