"The latest VA/DOD Clinical Practice Guidelines for PTSD were published in 2023; the American Psychological Association Clinical Practice Guidelines for PTSD were published in 2025. In these guidelines, experts rate treatments based on the strength of evidence (strong, weak, or indeterminate) using criteria like study quality, consistency of results, and effect size (how much PTSD symptoms changed from pre to post treatment)."
"Not everyone who experiences trauma and struggles afterward has PTSD. Trauma can lead to many different emotional and psychological challenges like depression, anxiety, substance use, eating disorders, sleep problems, or moral injury -not just PTSD. PTSD is a specific diagnosis with clear criteria. Evidence-based PTSD treatments target PTSD symptoms specifically. PTSD, as defined by the DSM-5, requires exposure to a traumatic event (exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violation) and symptoms from four clusters:"
Clinical practice guidelines synthesize research to produce evidence-based recommendations for PTSD treatment, using criteria such as study quality, consistency, and effect size. The VA/DOD guidelines were published in 2023 and the American Psychological Association guidelines in 2025. Trauma-focused therapies, especially cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and prolonged exposure (PE), have the strongest evidence for reducing PTSD symptoms. Stabilization approaches and body-oriented interventions show weak or insufficient evidence. Research and guideline panels support beginning with trauma-focused therapy for most people with PTSD. PTSD is a specific DSM-5 diagnosis requiring exposure to a qualifying traumatic event and symptoms across diagnostic clusters.
Read at Psychology Today
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