Norah C Feeny
Case Western Reserve University, OH·Psychology
Stressful, destabilizing life events can trigger both posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. The two conditions often occur together, in up to 60% of cases.
- Fields
Psychology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
posttraumatic stress disorder
depression
major depressive disorder
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Test in an open trial of 45 people whether PATH, a six-session therapy, reduces unproductive event processing, avoidance and reward-processing deficits in people with persistent symptoms after a destabilizing life event.
- Compare PATH with progressive muscle relaxation in a randomized trial of 135 participants to see whether the changes in these target processes replicate in a larger sample.
- Measure whether PATH reduces PTSD and depression symptoms compared with relaxation training, using event-focused revisiting and meaning-making along with work on positive and future events.
More about the research
Talk therapies for each work well for many people, but many patients drop out, a large minority keep serious symptoms, and some relapse under new stress. Most treatments target one disorder at a time and rarely build up the positive processes linked to resilience. This project develops and tests a brief therapy aimed at psychological processes shared by both conditions.
Why it matters
PTSD and depression after stressful events carry a large human and economic cost. A short, six-session therapy that works on processes common to both could reduce dropout, improve engagement and results, and help people stay well when future stressors arrive. The trials may also show which psychological processes drive recovery, which could guide more precise treatments.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli
Northeastern University, MA·Psychology
Test whether mindfulness-based real-time fMRI neurofeedback engages its intended brain target by reducing hyperconnectivity within the default mode network, the circuit active during inward self-focused thought, in adolescents aged 13 to 18 with major depressive disorder.
Douglas F Zatzick
University of Washington, WA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether a brief stepped care intervention, combining care management, medication and psychotherapy, reduces PTSD symptoms over 12 months compared with required screening and referral, in a randomized trial of 424 hospitalized injury survivors.
Tatiana Davidson
Medical University of South Carolina, SC·Psychology
Test whether the Trauma Resilience and Recovery Program, a stepped-care model with text-message symptom tracking, improves quality of life and emotional recovery in 300 injured adolescents aged 12–17.
The school
Case Western Reserve University: 34 labs on PI Pages, $643M a year on research, 213 research doctorates a year.
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