Enhanced Cognitive Rehabilitation to Treat Comorbid TBI and PTSD

This study is a randomized trial of a hybrid treatment for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans with a history of mild to moderate TBI mTBI and PTSD. Emotional symptoms are likely a main cause of the persistence of post-concussive symptoms while thinking problems and emotional control problems associated with mTBI can impede recovery from PTSD. However, there is no PTSD treatment specifically designed to accommodate the difficulties with attention, memory, and problem solving that patients with TBI may have. Therefore, this study integrates therapeutic approaches and tests a modification of cognitive processing therapy CPT, an empirically supported treatment for PTSD, in which CPT is enhanced with compensatory cognitive rehabilitation principles. The enhanced CPT, called SMART-CPT is being compared to standard CPT in a group of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans with a history of both mTBI and PTSD. Half of the participants are randomly assigned to receive standard CPT and half to receive SMART-CPT. This year was dedicated recruitment, enrollment, and treatment, with 43 Veterans enrolled and 12 who have completed all treatment sessions, to date.