Counselling psychologists’ experience of working with UK Armed Forces Veterans with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD)

Given the addition of CPTSD to the ICD-11 (WHO, 2019), and the findings that most Veteran participants could meet the criteria for CPTSD with symptoms that can be severe or have an impact on functioning (Letica-Crepulja et al., 2020; Murphy et al., 2020), there is scope for further exploration of how counselling psychologists assess for and decide on treatment with Veterans with CPTSD symptoms given their range of skills and knowledge.  This can contribute to continuing professional development within the counselling psychology community and meet the need for treating CPTSD in Veterans.

The aim of the proposed study is to explore counselling psychologists’ experience of providing psychological therapy to Armed Forces Veterans in the UK who have, or are likely to have, complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD).  This includes how counselling psychologists perceive CPTSD presentations in Veteran clients, how and what they use to recognise and assess the presence of CPTSD, how they form their treatment plans, what treatments they use for CPTSD in their work, and factors influencing therapeutic engagement.  No previous studies have explored these aspects within the proposed participant group working with Veterans in the UK.

• How do counselling psychologists recognise CPTSD in UK Armed Forces Veterans?
• How do counselling psychologists decide on treatment options for multi-layered symptom presentations, such as CPTSD in this population?
• What influences therapeutic engagement with UK Armed Forces Veterans with CPTSD from the perspective of counselling psychologists?

Counselling psychologists (qualified and in-training) with at least six months experience working with CPTSD in UK Veteran population.