"The world does not look the same anymore": The experiences of patients six months after finishing an intensive...

Trauma-focused treatment is known to be demanding, resulting in considerable drop-out rates. Intensive trauma treatment programs for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have demonstrated significant and sustained results and appear to be better tolerated. However, how patients experience this treatment has been scarcely explored through qualitative studies, and only in the weeks following the end of treatment. The longer-term effects and experiences of the treatment remain under-investigated.

The current study aimed to explore participants' experiences of an intensive inpatient trauma treatment program six months after completing it. Our research questions were: How do patients appraise intensive trauma-focused treatment six months after completion? How do they experience change from participating in the treatment program? And, what are their needs for follow-up care or treatment?

Six patients diagnosed with PTSD with multiple traumas and comorbidity, and who participated six months earlier in an intensive two-week (4 + 4 days) inpatient trauma treatment program that included Prolonged Exposure, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and therapist rotation, were interviewed using a semi-structured qualitative interview. The transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Our findings indicate that patients found the intensive treatment program challenging but worthwhile, as participants described reduction in PTSD symptoms and reported shifts in self-perception. Patients also described greater emotional awareness and fewer somatic symptoms. Although patients reported that their process of improvement continued post-treatment, they indicated that they could benefit from additional follow-up care.

Our findings suggest that participants reflect on their experiences in the intensive treatment program six months post-treatment and report that the treatment changed how they view their trauma history and, possibly as a consequence, how they perceive themselves. This study further emphasizes that patients express diverse needs for post-treatment follow-up.

Clinical Trial gov. identifier: NCT05342480. Date of registration: 2022-04-22.