Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40874484›Full record

ArticlePsychiatry and clinical psychopharmacology2025

Evolving Psychotherapeutic Approaches for PTSD: Beyond the Fear-Based Model.

Lisa Burback, Olga Winkler, Rakesh Jetly, Jennifer Swainson, Yanbo Zhang, Venkat Bhat, Eric Vermetten

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Psychiatry and clinical psychopharmacology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Post-traumatic stress disorder.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Lisa BurbackDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Alberta, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-9591-4355
Olga WinklerDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Alberta, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-7297-1250
Rakesh JetlyThe Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Royal Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-6610-9365
Jennifer SwainsonDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Alberta, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-6071-1395
Yanbo ZhangDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Alberta, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-2421-157X
Venkat BhatDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-8768-1173
Eric VermettenLeiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-0579-4404

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Traditional trauma-focused psychotherapies (TFPs) were developed based on an anxiety disorder model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, PTSD is a more complex disorder with heterogeneous onset, presentation, trajectory, and treatment responsivity. As half of treated patients do not respond to first-line treatments, innovative therapies are emerging to improve outcomes. This narrative review of therapist-delivered psychotherapies for PTSD focuses on interventions not yet endorsed by clinical guidelines. A systematic search of MEDLINE and American Psychological Association PsycINFO was conducted for English-language human clinical studies, guidelines, and reviews related to PTSD psychotherapy through June 29, 2024. Data were thematically analyzed, focusing on how emerging interventions modify or diverge from current guideline-recommended treatments. The review identified 4 key themes for improving trauma therapy: (1) optimizing existing TFPs, (2) adapting psychotherapies used for other conditions, (3) reimagining exposure therapies, and (4) new therapeutic modalities. New exposure treatments include those capitalizing on memory reconsolidation science, combination with pharmacotherapies, neuromodulation, or virtual reality technologies, and mind-body and somatic psychotherapies. Moral injury, identity, and spirituality-focused therapies aim to resolve intense internal conflicts, guilt and shame, and issues of meaning and purpose. Finally, multi-modal treatments like 3MDR and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapies have multiple synergistic mechanisms. Ongoing research will be crucial to validating emerging approaches and optimizing their combined potential. A PTSD staging model may provide a structured framework for rigorous empirical evaluation and clinical implementation. Future research should prioritize randomized controlled trials with diverse patient populations and long-term follow-up to ensure their safety, efficacy, and scalability.

Identifiers

PMID40874484
PMCPMC12410240

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.