title: A pilot study of the trauma recovery group for veterans with post traumatic stress disorder and co-occurring serious mental illness.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many Veterans may not benefit from gold-standard evidence-based treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because they suffer from co-occurring serious mental illness (SMI).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This pilot study is the first to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the Trauma Recovery Group in a sample of Veterans with PTSD and SMI.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen Veterans with PTSD and SMI were enrolled in a 21-session group-based cognitive behavioral therapy program targeting PTSD. The PTSD Checklist was the primary outcome measure; secondary outcomes included the Participant Health Questionnaire, the Post Traumatic Cognitions Inventory, and the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-one percent of participants completed the trial. The intervention was associated with a significant reduction of PTSD symptoms and a trend-level reduction of maladaptive post-traumatic cognitions. There was a significant positive correlation between change in PTSD symptoms and change in post-traumatic cognitions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings support the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the Trauma Recovery Group for Veterans with co-occurring PTSD and SMI, and suggest that controlled research on the program is warranted.
authors.affiliation: a Washington, DC Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Mental Health Service , Washington , DC , USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Sacks
authors.affiliation: a Washington, DC Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Mental Health Service , Washington , DC , USA.|b Department of Psychiatry , Georgetown University Medical Center , Washington , DC , USA , and.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.affiliation: c Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Boston University , Boston , MA , USA.
authors.forename: Kim T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Mueser
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: PTSD; cognitive behavioral therapy; serious mental illness; veterans