Skip to main content
ABCT 2023 Annual Convention Main banner
Final Program


Program Flipbook
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.
Presentation Icons
Ticketed Session
Ticketed Session
Recorded Session
Recorded Session
Back

Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders and Disasters

Examining client treatment preferences and satisfaction during transdiagnostic treatment for PTSD and depression delivered via telehealth

(PS11-C61) Examining Client Treatment Preferences and Satisfaction During Transdiagnostic Treatment for PTSD and Depression Delivered via Telehealth

Saturday, November 18, 2023
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM PST
Location: Regency Ballroom, Level 7

The landscape of psychotherapy delivery format has significantly shifted in recent years since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with therapists utilizing telehealth more than ever (Pierce et al., 2021). While provider attitudes towards and preferences for delivery modality have been examined (Goetter et al., 2022), client attitudes and preferences are less understood (Békés et al., 2022). This is especially critical given that preferences for treatment may predict client outcomes in treatment (Swift et al., 2021), and may therefore have implications for client and provider decisions about treatment delivery format. Positive processes and transition to health (PATH) is a six-session, novel intervention grounded in evidence-based principles that directly targets stress-related mental health symptoms as they relate to destabilizing life events. PATH targets three key, transdiagnostic processes implicated in the onset, maintenance, and relapse of stress-related psychopathology, while cultivating positive emotion engagement. This study examined client treatment satisfaction and whether baseline PTSD and depression symptoms and prior treatment history were associated with a preference for telehealth vs. in-person psychotherapy. These data include ongoing open-trial participants from PATH (NCT04678232; target N = 45) who experienced a destabilizing life event (e.g., a break-up, sexual assault, loss of a loved one) and elevated PTSD and/or MDD symptoms. Clinician-rated symptom severity and prior treatment history were assessed at baseline, and treatment preferences and satisfaction were measured at posttreatment. Results suggest that clients preferred telehealth (65%) and were mostly or very satisfied with the technical (80%) and therapeutic (100%) aspects of the telehealth experience. Clients also reported that telehealth largely reduced barriers to accessing treatment (70%; e.g., transportation, time). Higher baseline PTSD severity (β = -.26, p = .03) was associated with a preference for telehealth psychotherapy, but depression severity and previous history of treatment were not (ps > .10). These findings provide support for the acceptability of telehealth, even among individuals with greater intensity stress-related symptoms, which in part may be explained by increased avoidance that is characteristic of PTSD (Markowitz & Milrod, 2022). However, further work is needed to better understand the relationship between symptom severity and treatment preference. This work bolsters existing literature which suggests that telehealth may reduce barriers to treatment attendance (Lipschitz et al., 2022). Given that the upcoming end of the public health emergency declarations related to COVID-19 may affect telehealth laws, future work should focus on better understanding client preferences and attitudes and how they relate to treatment outcome. These data may be critical in conversations about the future landscape of telehealth laws.
Back to Top