Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Over 75% of Canadians will experience a traumatic event in their lifetime, and 10% will go on to be diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Left untreated, PTSD is a chronic condition associated with negative effects on emotional, occupational, and social functioning. Fortunately, there are short-term psychotherapies, such as Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), that improve PTSD and are recommended as the first choice in treatment for those with PTSD. One challenge with CPT is that a substantial number of patients drop out during the twelve sessions of treatment (28-80%) and generally continue to experience high levels of PTSD symptoms. This research will further understanding of a factor that could be modified to potentially decrease dropout: the therapist-patient relationship. This is defined as the working relationship between the therapist and patient that involves mutually agreed upon goals and collaboration on tasks during treatment. Although the therapist-patient relationship has been found to consistently predict dropout for other mental health issues, this association has not been explored for patients receiving CPT for PTSD. My study will examine the therapist-patient relationship in relation to dropout in a diverse sample of patients from North America. This will be the first study to explore the therapist-patient relationship in CPT. Findings from this study will help tailor CPT by training therapists to strengthen the therapist-patient relationship early on to prevent dropout from occuring. Decreasing dropout from CPT will increase the dose of CPT received, to ultimately provide better care and outcomes for Canadians with PTSD.