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Updated: Oct 22, 2025

Simultaneous Application of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation during Virtual Reality Exposure
Published on: January 18, 2021
A case series examining PTSD and depression symptom reductions over the course of a 2-week virtual intensive PTSD
Philip Held1, Jennifer A Coleman1, Kelsey Petrey1
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
Objective:
Evidence-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be effectively delivered over telehealth. There are, however, no studies that examine the effectiveness of delivering evidence-based treatments for PTSD in an intensive format via telehealth. Telehealth may be well-suited as a delivery modality because it may address barriers specific to intensive treatments.
Method:
To address this gap, we report on a case series of ten consecutively enrolled veterans (60% male; mean age 42.3, SD = 6.3) who participated in a virtual 2-week, cognitive processing therapy (CPT)-based intensive program.
Results:
All (100%) participants completed treatment and reported large reductions in PTSD and depression symptoms pre- to posttreatment (Hedge's g = 2.83 and g = 1.97, respectively), pre- to 3-month follow-up (Hedge's gws = .99 and g = 1.24, respectively), as well as very high satisfaction.
Conclusions:
Results of this case series suggest that evidence-based treatments for PTSD can be effectively delivered in intensive formats over telehealth and lay the foundation for more rigorously designed and larger scale research comparing virtual to in-person delivered intensive PTSD treatments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
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