Date
8-24-2023
Department
School of Nursing
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Chair
Vickie Moore
Keywords
veterans, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), integrative therapies, yoga, equine-assisted therapy, acupuncture
Disciplines
Nursing
Recommended Citation
Greene, Kelly Ann, "Complementary and Integrative Therapies Available for Treating Veterans With PTSD: An Integrative Review" (2023). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 4775.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/4775
Abstract
PTSD is described as the resulting from exposure to threatened or real injury, death, or sexual violence. Its symptoms have four different clusters: avoidance, re-experiencing, hyperarousal, and negative alterations in mood. PTSD is a widespread diagnosis among U.S. military veterans. This is a way of daily life for many veterans, and not all therapy is successful. The Veterans Health Administration (VA) recognizes that conventional therapy is not always appropriate for each veteran with PTSD. The VA has developed the Whole Health approach, which represents a move toward more person-driven health care, which the VA characterizes as proactive, patient driven, and personalized, and includes complementary and integrative health. This integrative review examined, critiqued, and synthesized the current literature to identify the options for complementary and integrative treatments for PTSD in veterans. Complementary and integrative treatments reviewed include yoga, acupuncture, animal-assisted therapies, and other less common therapies. The rate of PTSD diagnoses among veterans in the United States is enormously large , and many of them do not complete their treatment plan. Currently, the use of complementary and integrative treatment for PTSD is limited, but there is good evidence for positive outcomes in the literature to support their initiation.
