Treatment Studies
Statewide Evidence-Based Telehealth Treatment
This project includes the following goals: 1) Deliver high-quality, accessible, evidence-based mental health treatment to veterans and their beneficiaries via telehealth that leads to meaningful improvements in quality of life; 2) commit to providing treatment that is culturally competent, for both veterans and veteran family members; 3) make expert referrals to alternate services, based on our thorough clinical assessments, in cases in which our treatment services are not a good match for veterans or their beneficiaries; 4) reach and positively impact veterans across Texas through our statewide marketing campaign which utilizes our internal communication channels as well as social media marketing; and 5) increase the pool of culturally competent, evidence-based treatment providers by training current graduate-level trainees in mental health fields.
Treatment is provided at no-cost to the client and is available for any veteran, regardless of discharge status.
This program is supported by a grant from the Texas Veterans Commission Fund for Veterans’ Assistance. The Fund for Veterans’ Assistance provides grants to organizations serving veterans and their families. https://TVC.Texas.gov
Project ACCESS: Expanding Evidence-Based Treatment via Telehealth to Fire Service
The intended objective of this study is to improve the behavioral health of firefighters by developing a telehealth clinic that provides protocol driven, evidence-based treatment for firefighters with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Substance Use Disorder, Depression, and their combination.
There were four phases to this study. In the first phase, we adapted the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic treatment for emotional disorders and developed a firefighter cultural awareness training. Next, we refined the cultural awareness training by conducting a focus group. Following that, we piloted a telehealth clinic and serve five eligible firefighters. Now, we have a telehealth clinic offering this service to firefighters nationwide.
Virtual Reality as Nonpharmacologic Pain Management Among Hospitalized Inpatients. A randomized control trial of Virtual Reality vs standard of care
This randomized control trial seeks to replicate and extend our previous studies by testing the efficacy of the EaseVRx in reducing pain in hospital inpatients across all services as compared to standard of care treatment.
Targeted Plasticity Therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
The purpose of this open-label pilot study is to provide an initial assessment of the safety of using a new device to deliver vagus nerve stimulation to reduce symptom severity in participants with PTSD. Additionally, the study will assess the prospective benefit of the system and garner an initial estimate of the effect size for a subsequent trial.
Targeted Plasticity Therapy for Upper Limb Rehabilitation in Spinal Cord Injuries
The study will provide an initial evaluation of the use of the ReStore implanted stimulator in the context of spinal cord injuries. The study will help to assess the prospect that VNS coupled with rehabilitation in participants suffering from upper extremity paresis after a spinal cord injury is a potentially effective treatment to improve recovery of upper limb motor function.
Wireless Nerve Stimulation Device to Enhance Recovery After Stroke
The study will provide an initial evaluation of the use of the ReStore implanted stimulator in the context of spinal cord injuries. The study will help to assess the prospect that VNS coupled with rehabilitation in participants suffering from upper extremity paresis after a spinal
Prevention of Posttraumatic Stress: A RCT of Modified Brief Prolonged Exposure Therapy (Brief PE) During Inpatient Rehabilitation Post Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
The overall goal of this project is to test a brief intervention (three 60-minute sessions) to reduce psychological distress after SCI and to mitigate long-term post-SCI distress including PTSD.
