Close to 80% of individuals will experience a lifetime traumatic event, and a subset of them will go on to develop post-trauma psychopathology, which typically manifests as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or major depressive disorder. One manifestation of both PTSD and MDD is the reduced capacity for experiencing positive emotions (diminished positive affect), and greater reductions in this capacity are associated with a worse course of illness, greater disability, and poorer response to treatments. Diminished positive affect is clinically-relevant in PTSD and not well-targeted with existing treatments.  The neurobiological processes underlying these decreases in positive affect are understudied, which leaves gaps in our understanding of how diminished positive emotion influences the treatment of PTSD and is improved by PTSD treatment.

The purpose of this study is to identify how trauma-focused psychotherapy (in the form of Cognitive Processing Therapy) changes the function of brain circuitry in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and how this mediates improvements in the diminished ability to experience positive emotions following a traumatic or extremely stressful life event.

For this study we are currently looking for individuals who:

• have experienced a traumatic event and have been diagnosed with PTSD or believe they may be suffering from PTSD
• are 18-65 years old and English-speaking
• are NOT taking daily psychiatric medication and are NOT in regular PTSD-specific psychotherapy
• are willing and able to undergo fMRI on two different occasions
• can attend in-person 50min therapy sessions twice a week over the course of 6-8 weeks, and complete out-of-session written assignments

If you are interested in more information, please contact us! Participants will receive 12 sessions of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) at no cost and financial compensation up to $900. All participants also receive free pictures of their brain!

If you are interested please contact us at fonzolab@austin.utexas.edu  or you can complete the initial screening form:

Initial Screening Form for PERPP study  Please use the referral code: PERPP