A novel dissemination effort for prolonged exposure: Practice and dissemination curriculum

Psychol Trauma. 2019 Mar;11(3):314-318. doi: 10.1037/tra0000362. Epub 2018 Jun 25.

Abstract

Objectives: This study examines the effectiveness of a novel dissemination and implementation curriculum for prolonged exposure (PE). Predoctoral clinical psychology interns completed a sequential, four-part curriculum that culminated in a community-based practicum during which interns conducted a PE workshop. We hypothesized that workshop participants would report more favorable attitudes regarding PE after completing the intern-led workshop than endorsed at the outset of the workshop.

Method: A total of 53 workshop participants attended and completed questionnaires. The majority of workshop participants had a master's-level degree or educational specialist degree (n = 28; 57.1%) and were currently a counselor or psychosocial rehabilitation worker (n = 21; 42.9%). We examined changes between pre- and posttraining time points for five self-report items related to negative attitudes toward PE and three self-report items related to intent to use PE.

Results: There was a significant effect of workshop training on four out of five items related to negative attitudes toward PE. The nonsignificant result of the fifth item may be due to a ceiling effect given that baseline scores for this item were very positive. There was a significant effect of workshop training on all three items related to intent to use PE.

Conclusions: Results suggested that this sequential four-part curriculum may be an effective way of combining education, training, and dissemination efforts. Future research should examine if similar results can be achieved with a controlled research design and whether outcomes would generalize to actual PE delivery skills in routine clinical care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Clinical Competence
  • Curriculum*
  • Educational Measurement
  • Epilepsy, Post-Traumatic / therapy
  • Female
  • Health Personnel / education*
  • Humans
  • Implosive Therapy / education*
  • Implosive Therapy / methods
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Young Adult