3MDR Therapy Reduces Symptoms of PTSD and Related Conditions in Canadian Military Members and Veterans, Public Safety Personnel, and Clinical Personnel.
Brain and Behavior · 2026-05-01 · Quasi-experimental
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Military Veterans, public safety personnel (police, fire fighters, paramedics, and others), and frontline healthcare workers are at elevated risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to trauma exposure. Multimodal motion-assisted memory desensitization and reconsolidation (3MDR) therapy is an innovative therapy for PTSD and trauma-related mental health concerns, originally developed for military members and Veterans. The purpose of this study was to extend evidence for the effectiveness of 3MDR in Canadian military Veterans and to test it with public safety personnel and frontline healthcare workers. METHODS: This study is a longitudinal mixed-methods clinical trial. We examined 48 participants with PTSD from Alberta, Canada. Twenty-two participants had treatment-resistant PTSD. Participants were active military members or Veterans (n = 17), public safety personnel (n = 21), and/or healthcare workers (n = 21). Participants received a 10- to 14-week course of 3MDR therapy. Quantitative data were collected pretreatment, at the end of treatment, and longitudinally at 3, 6, and 12 months after completion of 3MDR. RESULTS: Data from 48 participants were analyzed. Data collected pre- and post-3MDR therapy showed both statistically and clinically significant reductions in symptom scores for PTSD (CAPS-5 clinical interview: 46.4 ± 2.2 to 25.1 ± 3.4, mean ± standard error; PCL-5 questionnaire: 48.5 ± 2.2 to 32.2 ± 3.0), depression (PHQ-9: 14.3 ± 1.0 to 9.8 ± 1.0), anxiety (GAD-7: 12.2 ± 0.9 to 8.3 ± 0.9), and difficulties with life functioning (OQ-45: 92.0 ± 3.9 to 77.3 ± 4.4). These improvements were maintained through to 12 months follow-up. Resilience (CD-RISC-25), which was assessed pre- and post-3MDR but not at follow-up, also showed significant improvements over the course of 3MDR therapy. All results survived multiple comparison correction. CONCLUSION: These results support the growing body of literature illustrating 3MDR as an effective treatment for military-related PTSD as well as PTSD-related mental health conditions in public safety personnel and healthcare workers. These results also extend the period of post-3MDR follow-up to 12 months in a sample of Canadian 3MDR participants, from 6 months follow-up in earlier Canadian 3MDR studies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN Registry 11264368; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN11264368. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/20620.
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Tags
Clinician perspective · Military & tactical · Paramedics & EMTs · Fire service & police · Quality of life & function
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