Large-scale implementation of a brief treatment program for PTSD in persons with serious mental illness in a mental health agency: The Brief, Relaxation, Education and Trauma Healing (BREATHE) program.

Objective: We examined the feasibility and clinical outcomes of implementing a brief intervention for treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in persons with serious mental illness receiving services at a large, urban community mental health agency. The Brief, Relaxation, Education and Trauma Healing (BREATHE) program is a standardized, three-session intervention that targets PTSD symptoms through teaching breathing retraining and personalized psychoeducation about trauma and PTSD.

Method: A total of 60 clinicians were trained in the BREATHE intervention throughout the agency, which was offered to 233 clients who screened positive for probable PTSD.

Factor structure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in persons with serious mental illness.

Background: Trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are common among individuals with serious mental illness (SMI; e.g., schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, treatment refractory major depressive disorder), with resultant functional impairment.

Healing Trauma While Staying at Home: Using Telehealth to Conduct a Brief Treatment Program for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Studies suggest that a three-session brief treatment program (Brief Relaxation, Education, and Trauma Healing [BREATHE]) can help treat posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and symptoms of trauma; however, the program has not been examined via telehealth. Thus, the current study evaluated the feasibility of BREATHE delivered via telehealth. The intervention included breathing retraining and psychoeducation about PTSD and trauma.

Diagnostic profiles and trauma history among treatment-seeking young adults with positive post-traumatic stress disorder screens: Findings and implications for public mental health care.

Objectives: This study examined diagnostic profiles and trauma history among treatment-seeking young adults with positive PTSD screens in public mental health care.

Methods: Screening for trauma history and PTSD symptoms was implemented in a community mental health service system. 266 treatment-seeking young adults (aged 18-35) endorsed trauma exposure with a score of at least 45 on the DSM-IV PTSD Checklist, indicating probable PTSD.

The Relationship Between Serious Mental Illness and Criminal Offending in Persons Experiencing Homelessness: The Role of Substance Use Disorder.

Individuals who live with mental illness are encumbered by related risk factors that increase the probability of legal involvement. The goal was to determine how homelessness and substance use disorder are intervening factors in the relationship between symptoms of serious mental illness (SMI) and criminal offending. A sample of 210 chronically homeless adults receiving SAMHSA-funded outreach and psychiatric rehabilitation services between 2014 and 2016 was recruited in a study of interventions to address housing in homeless persons with a SMI.