Intensive Treatment Versus Standard Weekly Prolonged Exposure for Adults With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare a novel, massed treatment format of prolonged exposure to gold standard trauma focused cognitive behavioral therapy (weekly delivered prolonged exposure) for post-traumatic stress disorder. The objective with this study is to investigate efficacy, mechanisms of change and cost effectiveness of intensive prolonged exposure (I-PE) in regular Swedish psychiatric care. Adult patients with post-traumatic stress disorder will be randomly assigned to receive either gold standard prolonged exposure weekly for 15 weeks or 5 days of intensive treatment with the addition of three booster sessions dispersed 1, 2 and 4 weeks after completion of the massed treatment period. Qualitative interviews will be conducted with therapists to explore their experiences of delivering intensive treatment for PTSD, with particular focus on perceived benefits and challenges, clinical processes, patient engagement, and the impact of the intensive format on therapeutic work.