Project Strength in Warriors

The GMU Center for Evidence-Based Behavior Health (https://cebbh.gmu.edu/) is looking for Veterans to participate in a treatment study funded by the Virginia’s Department of Veterans Services Suicide Prevention and Opioid Addiction Services called Project Strength in Warriors (STUDY00000747). We are evaluating a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) program designed for veterans experiencing mental health or alcohol/substance related difficulties. Veterans helped with the design of this treatment program as well as therapists with expertise working with Veterans. CBT is a time-limited, skills-based, therapy with the goal of helping veterans strengthen their “emotional muscles” much in the same way physical therapy helps strengthen “physical muscles.” 

Research shows that CBT is an effective therapy for many difficulties, including depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts/behavior, self-harm, substance misuse, anxiety, anger, and trauma. Our CBT treatment program, before adapted for veterans, lead to lower rates of suicide attempts, arrests, binge drinking, substance use, hospitalizations, emergency room visits, and day-to-day functioning among teenagers, and a noticeable decrease in mood and anxiety disorders. Treatments like this one, that address multiple difficulties, have also been shown to lead to reductions in mental health symptoms and impairment when used with adults, including veterans.  

Veterans who meet eligibility criteria and agree to participate will receive approximately 4 months of weekly therapy sessions for free and be asked to complete study assessments to tailor the treatment program to their needs and evaluate it. This includes a pre-treatment interview and survey, a very brief weekly survey at the start of each therapy session to track progress and better tailor the treatment to individual veteran needs, and a post-treatment assessment. There will also be the opportunity for an optional brief interview at study end to provide opinions to the study team about how to further improve the treatment program for veterans. Veterans will receive compensation for their time completing the assessments.

No one outside the GMU research team will know who participated in this treatment study, unless the veteran chooses to share their participation with others.

If you know any Veterans who may be interested in learning more about Project Strength in Warriors, for themselves or others, please let them know about this study. You can provide them with the link to this website. They can complete the following interest form https://redcap.gmu.edu/surveys/?s=8ANFJ9444W8TFM9F on our secure GMU server. 

They can also e-mail our Program Coordinator, Micaela Maron, at mmaron@gmu.edu or call her at 571-354-0986. She will be able to answer any questions that they may have – and contacting her does not, in any way, obligate anyone to participate.