Investigating the experience of individuals with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder and substance misuse attending a Seeking Safety group

Investigating the experience of individuals with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder and substance misuse attending a Seeking Safety group Jac Neirin Airdrie, Alexandra Lievesley, Emma Griffith Advances in Dual Diagnosis, Vol. ahead-of-print, No. ahead-of-print, pp.- There is no specific recommended treatment for the co-morbid presentation of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorder in the United Kingdom (UK). Seeking Safety (SS), a group-based treatment that targets symptoms of both disorder, has emerging evidence in the USA but lacks evidence from UK-based samples. The purpose of this study was to explore UK service users’ experience of attending SS and evaluate its impact on mental health symptomology and substance misuse. A mixed method approach was used to evaluate the acceptability of SS for a small sample (n = 7) of adult users of a substance misuse service in the UK. Thematic analysis was used to explore their experiences, derived from individual semi-structured interviews. The authors also calculated the number of participants who achieved reliable and/or clinically significant change in mental health symptomology and substance misuse from data routinely collected by the service. Seven overarching themes emerged: strengthening the foundations of the self, the evocation and management of emotions, safety and validation provided relationally, readiness and commitment, content and delivery, Seeking Safet...
Source: Advances in Dual Diagnosis - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Source Type: research