ThisWayUp PTSD Course

Description:

The PTSD Course is composed of 6 lessons and regular homework assignments designed to be completed in around 3 - 4 hours per week. The course uses animated characters to teach practical skills to help deal with the symptoms of PTSD. Lessons teach about the symptoms of PTSD, including information about diagnosis and treatment, the role of avoidance in PTSD and teaches skills including breathing techniques, thought monitoring, situational exposure and composing trauma narratives. The course also teaches skills for the prevention of relapse. 

Service URL:

https://thiswayup.org.au/how-we-can-help/courses/posttraumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd-course/

Agency Responsible:

Clinical Research Unit for Anxiety and Depression (CRUfAD); St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney; and the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

Details

Format:

Website.

Intervention Type:

Psychological – CBT.

Course Length:

Long (more than 5 modules). 6 modules to be completed within three months

Support Option:

No support. Supervised version is supported by your own clinician

Target Audience

Primary Category:

Post traumatic stress disorder.

Target Audience:

Adult. At least four weeks after traumatic event

Language:

English.

Access

Fee:

Fee-based. $59 for three months access

Access:

Closed: Fee required.

Contact Details:

through webpage: https://thiswayup.org.au/contact-us/

Research evidence

Research Trials:

1

Research RCTs:

1

Outcome Summary:

One randomised controlled trial has been completed to test the efficacy and acceptability of the PTSD course. Participants with a clinical diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder, and most also meeting diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder, were randomly assigned to either a treatment group or a waitlist control group (WLC). The treatment group experienced large improvement in PTSD symptom severity (within group effect size d=1.18) and outperformed those in the WLC group (between groups effect size d=0.47). We also found that 38% of participants in the treatment group demonstrated clinically reliable change on PTSD symptom severity, in comparison to 29% in WLC. Two-thirds of participants completed all six lessons of the program, with program satisfaction positive. Overall, our findings suggest that the PTSD program can offer improvement in adults experiencing symptoms of PTSD.  

Recommended rating, reviewer 1:

Recommended rating, reviewer 2:

Read more about Beacon's Smiley Rating System.

Research paper citations

Allen, A. R., Newby, J. M., Smith, J., & Andrews, G. (2015). Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (iCBT) for posttraumatic stress disorder versus waitlist control: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials, 16(1), 544.

Spence J, Titov N, Dear BF, Solley K, Lorian C, Andrews G: A randomized controlled trial of Internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. Depression and Anxiety. 2011, 28(7):541-550.