Why is intensive treatment for PTSD important?

At Combat Stress, many veterans undertake intensive treatment for PTSD, either on a one-to-one basis or as part of a group. The treatment is intensive by design but why is this important?

What is intensive treatment?

To answer this question, we first need to explain what we mean by intensive treatment. At Combat Stress, when we provide intensive treatment for PTSD, the psychological therapy sessions are much closer together – often with more than one session undertaken per day - and carried out in a short period of time (usually two weeks).

Why does it work?

Intensive treatment typically results in much higher completion rates compared to weekly treatment and can accelerate recovery whilst minimising the impact of treatment on family life and work.

This is because there is very little waiting time between each session, enabling someone to continue to process past experiences and more forward more quickly. The next session is never far away.

In addition, the two-week timeframe is often easier for veterans with jobs or families to manage, compared to therapy that stretches over many months. In more traditional therapy, someone will usually have one 90-minute session per week, often over several months. But it’s not just the session itself – time is also needed before and after to prepare and reflect. This can end up taking most of a morning or afternoon, which can be hard to fit around work and family life. Plus, after a session, there’s a whole week before the next session – which can feel frustrating and slow for some people who want to move forward.

With intensive treatment, progress happens more quickly. Most importantly, veterans start to feel better faster. In fact, over 70% of veterans who complete our treatment recover from PTSD – a result that’s significantly above the recovery rate for PTSD of other mental health services.

How we provide intensive treatment

Intensive PTSD treatment typically involves multiple therapy sessions over a short period (generally several hours per day over two weeks).

We use evidence-based trauma-focused psychological therapy. We assess the individual needs of each veteran and work with them to agree the trauma-focused therapy that is likely to be most helpful. This might include Cognitive Therapy for PTSD (CT-PTSD), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) or, in specific cases, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR).

Our intensive treatment is primarily delivered online in an outpatient setting. It makes our help equitable for veterans across the UK, aiding their ability to attend treatment.

 

“Many veterans live with the debilitating effects of PTSD for years but intensive treatment can transform their life in a matter of weeks. It can be truly life-changing – not only for the veteran but also for the families.”