Comparing Individual Therapies for Veterans With Depression, PTSD, and Panic Disorder

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a brief, efficient, and effective treatment for individuals with depressive/anxiety disorders. However, CBT is largely underutilized within the Department of Veterans Affairs due to the cost and burden of trainings necessary to deliver all of the related disorder-specific treatments (DSTs). Transdiagnostic Behavior Therapy (TBT), in contrast, is specifically designed to address numerous distinct disorders within a single protocol in Veterans with depressive/anxiety disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder. The proposed research seeks to evaluate the efficacy of TBT by assessing psychiatric symptomatology and related impairment outcomes in Veterans with depressive/anxiety disorders via a randomized controlled trial of TBT and existing DSTs in Veterans with major depressive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and panic disorder. Assessments will be completed at pre-, mid-, and post-treatment, and at 6-month follow-up. Process variables also will be investigated.