The Pitt Center for Emergency Responder Wellness

STUDY BASICS

Are you an emergency responder (police officers, fire fighters, EMS workers, emergency room medical providers, or emergency dispatchers)? You may be eligible to participate in a research study to see how effective an established, evidence-based form of mental health treatment is with emergency responders. All information regarding your treatment will be confidential.

STUDY PURPOSE

The purpose of this study is to see how effective an established, evidence-based form of mental health treatment is with emergency responders. The treatment is called The Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (Unified Protocol). It is designed to help people more effectively regulate their emotions, which is helpful in dealing with a range of problems like anxiety, depressed mood, posttraumatic stress, and alcohol misuse. The goal of treatment is to reduce emotional symptoms, to function more effectively at work and at home, and to achieve greater life satisfaction.

COULD THIS STUDY BE RIGHT FOR YOU?

• 18 year of age or older
• emergency responder (police officers, fire fighters, EMS workers, emergency room medical providers, or emergency dispatchers) residing in Pennsylvania

WHAT PARTICIPANTS CAN EXPECT

You will work with your therapist to develop specific goals tailored to you. Participating in this study involves the following:

• Completing a baseline or pre-treatment assessment (online questionnaires about your thoughts,emotions, and functioning that take about 35 minutes).
• Receiving treatment, which involves approximately 12-16 one-hour treatment sessions. The number of sessions depends on your individual needs. Treatment sessions will occur via video conferencing or in-person, depending on your preference. Sessions are scheduled once or twice/week, depending on your preference. There may be weeks when there is no treatment session (e.g., if you or your therapist are on vacation and unable to attend).
• A post-treatment assessment and a follow-up assessment that will occur 7 months after the pretreatment assessment. These will consist of the same online questionnaires as at pre-treatment and will take about 30 minutes per assessment.