Mental health therapy for veterans with PTSD as a family affair: A qualitative inquiry into how family support and social norms influence veteran engagement in care.

ABSTRACT: Social support is important for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) recovery and emerging literature indicate that social support could increase engagement in PTSD therapy. However, there is a need to understand how and why family involvement can increase treatment engagement to inform strategies used in clinical practice. This study explores how individuals with PTSD and family members of individuals with PTSD experience therapy and how social interactions help or hinder therapy engagement. We interviewed 18 U.S. military veterans who had been referred for psychotherapy for PTSD in the Veterans Health Administration and 13 family members and used rapid content analysis to identify themes. We found that engaging in therapy was a family-level decision that participants expected to improve

SUBMITTER: Shepherd-Banigan M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10423295 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature