Posttraumatic symptom improvement in trauma practice triphasic therapy: Preliminary findings from a multisite, community-based setting.

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the effectiveness of trauma practice (TP), a multimodal, triphasic approach to trauma therapy, within a community-based setting, including phase-linked effects on therapeutic outcomes.

METHOD: The sample included 39 clients and 15 clinicians. Participants varied in terms of trauma exposure and comorbid mental health to increase generalizability of results and representation of various trauma presentations in research. Posttraumatic symptoms (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition) and trauma-related distress (Trauma Symptom Checklist [TSC-40]) were measured at baseline, after each phase, and at 6 months posttherapy.

RESULTS

Mixed effects models, nested by participants and clinician education level, showed significant decreases in posttraumatic symptoms and trauma symptom distress, reflecting a shift from clinical to nonclinical levels with robust effect sizes and reliable change indices. Phase-based analyses indicated symptom improvement during each treatment phase, with the greatest improvement observed in Phase I. Treatment gains were maintained at follow-up; however, sample sizes at follow-up were small.

CONCLUSIONS

This study's implications suggest a strong foundation for TP's effectiveness and clinical utility, encouraging further exploration into its phase-specific benefits and broader application in trauma therapy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).