Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment Programs
treatment

 

Psychotherapies for Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (IRB#5660)

*Currently Recruiting Participants- Call 212-543-6747 for more information

Principal Investigator: John Markowitz, MD

Overview of the Study:

Postttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent, debilitating psychiatric disorder.   This study compares how well three different treatments reduce symptoms such as anxiety, avoidance, emotional numbness, mistrust, vivid memories of trauma, and sleep problems for individuals suffering from chronic PTSD.  The three treatments are:

Participants will be randomly assigned (by computer program) to one of these three types of therapy and will receive individual weekly therapy sessions over a period of 14 weeks. Raters will measure each participant’s progress periodically during the 14 week treatment period. A follow-up assessment will be conducted three months after the final therapy session.   

This study is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health allowing us to provide evaluations and therapy at no cost to participants in the Treatment Program

Eligibility Criteria:

 

To schedule a confidential screening, please call Helena Rosenfeld at 212-543-6747.

Click here  to read more about  the Psychotherapies for Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment Study

 

treatment

 

Prolonged Exposure Therapy and Brain Imaging Study for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (# 6153)

*Currently Recruiting Participants- Call 212-543-5520 for more information

Principal Investigator: Yuval Neria, PhD

Overview of the Study:

 

PTSD is a common anxiety disorder that follows exposure to an overwhelming traumatic event. People diagnosed with PTSD tend to experience severe difficulties in emotional, social, and occupational functioning. The most effective psychotherapy for PTSD is Prolonged Exposure treatment. Yet even with this treatment, a large number of patients continue to experience PTSD symptoms.  The question why some patients who receive prolonged exposure treatment will recover from PTSD while other patients will not remained unanswered.

 

Our study will seek to answer this question by investigating brain circuitry involved in PTSD and in response to Prolonged Exposure treatment. Patients with PTSD and trauma exposed people who didn’t develop PTSD, and are interested in participating in the study will be assessed by functional MRI and Skin Conductance Response (SCR) measures to determine the neural activation to a an extinction learning task. All PTSD patients and half of the trauma exposed individuals will repeat these procedures 10 weeks later, after PTSD patients have completed 10 weeks of intensive Prolonged Exposure treatment. Clinical ratings of PTSD severity will be conducted at four time points: before treatment, at week 7, after treatment and at 3 months follow-up. 

To schedule a confidential screening, please call Maria Malaga at 212-543-5520.

 

treatment

 

Combined Mirtazapine and Sertraline Treatment of PTSD Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (IRB#6152)

*Currently Recruiting Participants- Call 212-543-6282 for more information

Principal Investigator: Franklin Schneier, MD

Overview of the Study:

Sertraline (Zoloft) and paroxetine (Paxil) are the only medications that have been FDA-approved for treatment of PTSD, but they are not fully effective for all patients. One approach to improve treatment of PTSD is to combine these SSRI-type medications with another medication, Mirtazapine (Remeron, Avanza, Zispin) that is a marketed antidepressant. The combination of SSRI medication with mirtazapine has improved response in studies of treatment of depression. The overall goal of this study is to examine whether combined mirtazapine and sertaline treatment is superior to sertraline alone in the treatment of PTSD over 24 weeks.

The overall goal of this study is to examine efficacy of combined mirtazapine and SSRI treatment for PTSD. Sixty patients with chronic PTSD will be randomized to double-blind treatment with:

Patients who show at least a minimal response after 12 weeks will continue for another 12 weeks on the same study treatment.

To schedule a confidential screening, please call Sherina Persaud at 212-543-6282.

 

Depression Treatment Programs

treatment

 

   Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depressed Spouses of OIF/OEF Veterans (IRB# 6057)

*Currently Recruiting Participants- Call 212-543-6747 for more information

Principal Investigator: John Markowitz, MD

Overview of the Study:

The National Guard and Reserve occupy a uniquely difficult position in the US military. Often having enlisted without expecting to fight in the Middle East, they may carry even higher risk than other troops for disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Deemed second class soldiers by some in other services, dispersed among other services’ fighting units, National Guard and Reserve members disperse into the civilian population rather than residing on bases when they return to the US. They have limited mental health benefits. Their position is fragmented, isolated, and neglected.

Soldiers’ spouses face parallel difficulties. Their partners often return from combat with new or worsened psychiatric problems and have difficulty reintegrating into civilian life. Isolated in the community, these spouses are on their own, without the support or cohesion of base facilities and other spouses facing similar issues. They may suffer spousal abuse from aggressive and paranoid ex-combatants. Families must not only reintegrate returnees, but also await their potential or actual redeployment. Spouses may already feel overwhelmed as single parents in their partners’ absence, then have this compounded by the soldier’s arrival or departure. Thus spouses of National Guard and Reserve troops carry increased risk of MDD with few treatment resources (for example, no VA benefits): a growing, understudied, undertreated, high risk population.

This study involves a 12 week open trial of interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), a time-limited therapy demonstrated to treat MDD. IPT links depression to interpersonal contexts: marital disputes, the military partner’s return home or redeployment (“role transitions”), or complicated bereavement.

Eligibility Criteria:

To schedule a confidential screening, please call Helena Rosenfeld at 212-543-6747.