Attention Control Treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ׂ(PTSD)

The aim of this study is to explore the efficacy of Attention Control Training for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

ACT was found to be effective in decreasing attention bias variability and PTSD symptoms in combat veterans (Badura-Brack, et al., 2015). It is now important to continue the examination of ACT's efficacy in additional populations of patients with PTSD. Such extension of treatment to other traumatic experiences raises the question of whether the threatening content of the training material could be personalized for each patient.

For this purpose, we will recruit participants that are diagnosed with PTSD and will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions: personalized ACT, non-personalized ACT, or control training We expect that personalized ACT will produce greater reduction in PTSD symptoms relative to a non-personalized ACT, and that both these conditions will be more effective in symptoms reduction than a control condition not designed to affect attention or expose patients to threat stimuli. We also expect the ACT conditions to reduce attention bias variability relative to the control condition.

Inclusion criteria

Meeting a current diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) according to DSM-V (American Psychiatric Association, 2013);

Exclusion criteria

• A diagnosis of psychotic or bipolar disorders.
• A diagnosis of a neurological disorder (i.e., epilepsy, brain injury).
• Suicidal ideation.
• Drugs or alcohol abuse.
• Non-fluent Hebrew.
• A pharmacological treatment that is not stabilized in the past 3 months (a stable treatment will not be a reason for exclusion from the study).
• Pregnancy. -