Join us on June 10 for an online workshop
What We Know About Treatment for PTSD and the Promise of Equine Assisted Therapy
June was PTSD Awareness Month and as part of VOICES Pathways to Resilience Programs we highlighted unique strategies and effective treatments to promote healing. PTSD and anxiety were at an all-time high due to the pandemic, and are among the top 10 diagnosed conditions among individuals in treatment at the World Trade Center Health Clinical Centers.
This informative presentation by distinguished researchers, Dr. Yuval Neria and Dr. Prudence Fisher shared their extensive expertise in the treatment of trauma and PTSD. Dr. Neria spoke about PTSD as a diagnosis and discuss commonly used treatments in terms of their effectiveness. He also demonstrated his fascinating findings of efficacy using neuroimaging. Dr. Fisher then described the development of protocols by their team for group equine assisted therapy, and how it was evaluated in a large sample of veterans with PTSD.
PTSD is a treatable disorder in which a person has difficulty recovering after experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event such as a natural disaster, war, terrorist act, or serious accident. The condition can last months, or years, with triggers that can bring back memories of the trauma accompanied by intense emotional and physical reactions. This presentation provides a rare opportunity to hear from leading experts who have conducted research and authored hundreds of articles focused on the mental health consequences and treatment protocols for exposure to trauma.
About the Panelists
Yuval Neria, Ph.D. is Professor of Clinical Medical Psychology at Columbia University, Departments of Psychiatry and Epidemiology, and Director of Trauma and PTSD at the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI). Together with Dr. Fisher (see below), Dr. Neria and his lab have led the first ever development and testing of a treatment manual for Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT) for PTSD (the Man O’ War (MOW) Treatment Protocol) and they recently completed a large open trial on this novel treatment with veterans with PTSD.
Two papers from the project have been published and a third is under review Dr. Neria is currently working with Dr. Fisher on a project with PATH International (funded by the Bob Woodruff Foundation) to develop a training curriculum for the MOW protocol so that other EAT providers might implement it at their settings.
Prudence Fisher, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatric Social Work in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Research Scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Fisher is widely acknowledged as an expert in assessment issues and she has been instrumental in the development of numerous in widely used diagnostic measures, including the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC), the most widely used diagnostic interview for youth, the Children’s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS), and the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS), among others.
She actively collaborates with investigators at Columbia and at many other institutions and regularly consults with federal and state agencies. She is currently Principal Investigator on a small grant from PATH International (funded by the Bob Woodruff Foundation) to develop a training curriculum for the MOW protocol so that other EAT providers might implement it at their settings.
Thanks to the New Canaan Mounted Troop for their partnership and support
