Piloting "Signs of Safety": A Deaf-Accessible Therapy Toolkit for Alcohol Use Disorder and Trauma

The U.S. Deaf community - more than 500,000 Americans who communicate using American Sign Language (ASL) - experiences nearly triple the rate of lifetime problem drinking and twice the rate of trauma exposure as compared to the general population. Although there are validated treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in hearing populations, there are no evidence-based treatments for any behavioral health condition that have been validated for use with Deaf clients. To address these barriers, the study team has developed "Signs of Safety", a Deaf-accessible therapy toolkit for treating AUD and PTSD. The study team's ongoing aims are to conduct a two-arm pilot RCT of "Signs of Safety" and to collect data on feasibility, preliminary clinical outcomes, and potential mediators and moderators of outcome.