Trial of Art Therapy During Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD (Art_Tx_PTSD)

This is a randomized, controlled trial of adjunctive art therapy during cognitive processing therapy for PTSD.

The objective of this study is to examine the effects of art therapy with combat veterans who have PTSD and to measure if it reduces symptoms more than verbal Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) alone. This study will incorporate art processes and materials into an already established protocol of CPT in order to create a sense of safety for veterans in beginning therapy, and access the nonverbal parts of the trauma in order to process it. Art-making will be used to help veterans address trauma and integrate who they were before the trauma with who they are currently. It will assist in addressing the grief and loss caused by combat, and will be used as veterans begin building a worldview and self-concept that are not filled with trauma and war. It is hypothesized that the veterans who receive art therapy with CPT will show a significantly greater decrease in PTSD symptoms than those who receive only CPT.

Subject to receive 8 sessions of individual therapy for Art + CPT Cognitive Processing Therapy intervention pre-specified to be administered separately.

8 sessions of individual therapy of mixes techniques Art + CPT 8 sessions of standard CPT (same 8 as in control group) from manual developed by Dr.s Resick, Monson & Chard (11/2010)

Subjects to complete 8 sessions of standard Cognitive Processing Therapy from manual developed by Dr. S. Resick, Monson & Chard (1/2010) CPT + Art Therapy of mixed individual techniques

Inclusion Criteria: PCL-M initial score >= 50; Both genders, All ethnicities, Veterans in treatment for PTSD, Exclusion Criteria: No active substance use disorder, No active suicidal or homicidal ideation, No psychosis

Individual participant data (IPD) will not be made available to other researchers. Aggregated data and de-identified data could be potentially be shared at a future date.