Randomized clinical trial of Brief Eclectic Psychotherapy for police officers with posttraumatic stress disorder

The authors report on a randomized, controlled clinical trial on rite treat ment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), comparing manualized psychoth erapy to wait-list control. This is the first study to evaluate Brief Eclec tic Psychotherapy (BEP), which combines cognitive-behaviour and psychodynam ic approaches within one treatment method. Forty-two police officers with t he diagnosis of PTSD participated in the study: 22 were randomly assigned t o the treatment group and 20 to the wait-list control group. Assessments of PTSD and comorbid conditions were made 1 week before treatment, after trea tment session 4, upon termination of treatment (16 sessions), and at follow -up 3 months later: As expected no significant differences between groups w ere observed at pretest or at session 4. At posttest and at follow-up, BEP had produced significant improvement in PTSD, in work resumption, and in so me comorbid conditions.