Improving Effectiveness: Treatment Outcome Research

Inclusion criteria

• Participants will be survivors of interpersonal assault, who are at least three months post-crime at the time of their participation and who meet criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD. There is no upper time limit on time since crime for participation.

Exclusion criteria

• Exclusion criteria for participants include psychosis, mental retardation, active suicidality, parasuicidality, or current addiction to drugs or alcohol. In the case of apparent illiteracy, we will try to accommodate the individual as much as possible to maximize success in the program. In addition, participants cannot be in a currently abusive relationship or being stalked. For marital rape or domestic violence, the participant must have been out of the relationship for at least three months. Participants may continue the use of any medications throughout the study. However, participants must be willing to keep the medication usage stable for the duration of the study and must be stabilized on any new medication for one month prior to initial assessment. Participants will sign a contract to this effect. All medication use will be tracked throughout the course of the study on the daily symptom monitoring diaries, including over the counter medications. Finally, participants can have received any therapy in the past with the exception of CPT. They may be receiving concurrent therapy as long as it is not trauma-focused. Allowing subjects to continue with concurrent therapy offers them the option to continue with established supports and more closely mimics clinical practice and the generalizability of the results.