USF Nursing’s ART Study Results Make News Headlines in Texas

University of South Florida College of Nursing’s Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) early study results made news headlines on NBC affiliate’s KCEN-TV, which covers the areas of Waco, Killeen, and Temple in Texas. KCEN-TV’s reporter, Sophia Stamas, wrote the story on August 13, 2012.

Stamas talked about the recent ART results, which indicate substantial symptom reductions associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) including, depression, anxiety, sleep dysfunction and other physical and psychological symptoms.

“They still remember the history of this is what really happened, say out on the battlefield, but they can no longer see the images of it, and because of that, they no longer get the physiological reaction and the symptoms of the PTSD,” Stamas quoted Kevin E. Kip, PhD, FAHA, Professor and Executive Director of the USF College of Nursing Research Center. Dr. Kip is the Principal Investigator of College’s ART study.

ART is being studied as an alternative to traditional PTSD treatments that use drugs or lengthy therapy sessions. The talk therapy uses back-and-forth eye movements as the patient fluctuates between talking about a traumatic scene, and using the eye movements to help process that information to integrate the memories from traumatic events. The findings of this first study of ART appear in an on-line article published June 18, 2012 in the journal Behavioral Sciences.

ART is one of the five sub-studies of the USF College of Nursing’s Research to Rehabilitate/Restore the Lives of Veterans, Service Members and their Families grant funded and administered by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command and the Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) at Fort Detrick, MD.

To read Stamas’ full story visit KCEN-TV at “New PTSD Therapy Replaces Negative Memories with Positive Ones.”

  -RESTORE LIVES –

Through ‘RESTORE LIVES: Education and Research to Rehabilitate and Restore the Lives of Veterans, Service Members, and their Families,’ USF College of Nursing faculty develop life enhancing treatments through nursing research, and educate nurses with the knowledge and skills specific to the needs of the military, veterans, and their families. The Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) is an example of type of innovative research that the USF College of Nursing is developing to improve the health of our honored service members and veterans.