Overview of evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Session details

Date:

Time:

12:00pm - 1:30pm (Toronto time)

Location:

Zoom videoconferencing

Didactic presentation by:

Megan McElheran

Session objectives

At the end of this session, participants will be able to:

  1. Describe current therapeutic interventions for PTSD that have empirical support.
  2. Understand the degrees of evidence supporting the therapeutic interventions for PTSD.
  3. Identify ways to adapt manualized treatments to address clinical complexities that present with PSP.

Session resources

A primary care "friendly" cognitive behavioral insomnia therapy
Edinger JD, Sampson WS. A primary care "friendly" cognitive behavioral insomnia therapy. Sleep. 2003 Mar 15;26(2):177-82. doi: 10.1093/sleep/26.2.177. Source: PubMed
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I): A Primer
Walker J, Muench A, Perlis ML, Vargas I. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I): A Primer. Klin Spec Psihol. 2022;11(2):123-137. doi: 10.17759/cpse.2022110208. Source: PubMed
Didactic presentation: Overview of evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder
In this presentation, Dr. Megan McElheran discusses current therapeutic interventions for PTSD that have empirical support, the degrees of evidence supporting the therapeutic interventions for PTSD, ways to adapt manualized treatments to address clinical complexities that present with PSP.
Download the PDF(679.43 KB)
Quiet Your Mind and Get to Sleep: Solutions to Insomnia for Those with Depression, Anxiety, or Chronic Pain
Carney, C.E. & Manber, R. (2009). Quiet Your Mind and Get to Sleep: Solutions to Insomnia for Those with Depression, Anxiety, or Chronic Pain. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger. Source: New Harbinger Publications
Sleep 101
Given the increased understanding of the importance of sleep to both mental and physical health, the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT) has partnered with Dr. Colleen Carney, the Director of the Sleep and Depression Laboratory at Toronto Metropolitan University, to develop a sleep course specifically for PSP. Source: CIPSRT
Sleep 101: Toolkit for public safety personnel
A toolkit for public safety personnel on sleep from the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment Source: CIPSRT

About presenter

Dr. Megan McElheran is a Clinical Psychologist and the Chief Executive Officer of Wayfound, a national organization that provides mental health services across Canada.  McElheran’s research over the last 20 years has been focused on the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of operational stress injuries in active-duty military, veterans, and public safety personnel. McElheran’s passion and interest in proactively preventing operational stress led her to develop the Before Operational Stress (BOS) program as a way to address gaps in proactive mental health training for public safety personnel and frontline workers.


McElheran completed graduate training at the Stanford University clinical psychology consortium, during which she obtained specialized training in the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through the National Center for PTSD in Menlo Park, CA. McElheran routinely engages in teaching and supervisory activity to ensure sound dissemination of empirically-grounded interventions for trauma, providing a range of empirically-supported treatments for PTSD, including Prolonged Exposure, which is a therapy for which she also provides supervision; Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR); Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ARTS).


McElheran is a TEDx alumni and has participated in a number of panels and speaking engagements across Canada and the United States about proactive mental health training for first responders. McElheran also received the Queen’s Jubilee in 2013 for her pioneering work in mental health research.

Case presentations

Most of the learning in ECHO happens through presenting and discussing case presentations. If you have a case you would like to present, please submit a completed case presentation form to the ECHO PSP project coordinator.

Physicians presenting a case may bill OHIP for case conferences (billing code K701).