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Efficacy of Treating Sexual Trauma in a Substance Abuse Residential Program for Women

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Abstract

This is a program evaluation of treating sexual trauma in a residential substance abuse treatment program for women. Residents who were seeking treatment for their substance abuse disorder (SUD), also had a history of both childhood and adult sexual trauma. Given the literature supporting concurrent trauma-SUD treatment, the Warrior Renew (WR) protocol (Katz, Warrior Renew: Healing from military sexual trauma, Springer, New York, 2014) was added to the curriculum of Alcoholics Anonymous 12-step groups, relapse prevention, and substance abuse education classes. The WR manual consists of coping skills to address sleep and anxiety, and cognitive/experiential restructuring to address anger/resentments due to injustice, betrayal, and self-blame. It also addresses interpersonal factors such as relationship patterns and healthy interpersonal skills. This evaluation was conducted as part of routine clinical care in a naturalistic setting. Nineteen residents graduated the program and opted to complete pre-and post-treatment assessments. Findings revealed significant decreases in symptoms of anxiety, depression, posttraumatic negative thinking, and PTSD, and significant increases in positive factors of optimism and self-esteem-- all with large effect sizes. In addition, 95% of the sample had a reliable change at the 95% confidence interval. Resident’s feedback to staff reflected strong positive endorsement of the WR program. Results suggest WR is a promising effective treatment for women who have had sexual trauma in a substance abuse residential treatment program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sunrise Solutions, Sandy, UT, USA

    Gina Hemma

  2. University Neuropsychiatric Institute, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

    Amanda McNab

  3. VA Puget Sound Health Care System, 9600 Veterans Dr SW, Tacoma, WA, 98493, USA

    Lori S. Katz

Authors
  1. Gina Hemma
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  2. Amanda McNab
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  3. Lori S. Katz
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Correspondence to Lori S. Katz.

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Conflict of interest

The first two authors do not have any conflicts of interest to disclose. The third author discloses that she authored the Warrior Renew manual and related books which are commercially available.

Informed Consent

This is a program evaluation that is not considered formal research; thus, informed consent was not applicable. This evaluation does not reflect the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs or US Government.

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Hemma, G., McNab, A. & Katz, L.S. Efficacy of Treating Sexual Trauma in a Substance Abuse Residential Program for Women. J Contemp Psychother 48, 1–8 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-017-9365-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-017-9365-8

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