Improvements of complex post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms during a multimodal psychodynamic inpatient rehabilitation treatment - results of an observational single-centre pilot study.

Background: Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) describes chronic disturbances in self-organization (i.e. affect dysregulation; negative self-concept; severe difficulties in relationships) which are frequently observed in survivors of prolonged, repeated or multiple traumatic stressors. So far, evidence of psychodynamic treatment approaches for CPTSD is scarce. Methods: In this single-centre observational pilot study, symptom change during a 6-week psychodynamic inpatient treatment in a multimodal psychosomatic rehabilitation centre was evaluated using repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs). Patients completed questionnaires on PTSD and CPTSD symptoms (ITQ), anxiety, depression and somatization (BSI-18), functional impairment (WHODAS) and epistemic trust, mistrust and credulity (ETMCQ) before ( T1 ) and at the end of treatment ( T2 ). A hierarchical linear regression analysis was calculated to identify factors associated with improved CPTSD symptoms. Results: A total of n  = 50 patients with CPTSD were included in the study, of whom n  = 40 (80%) completed treatment. Patients reported a significant reduction of CPTSD symptoms during treatment with a large effect size (-3.9 points; p  < .001; η ² = .36), as well as a significant reduction of psychological distress ( p  < .001; η ² = .55) and functional impairment ( p  < .001; η ² = .59). At the end of treatment, 41.0% of patients no longer fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for CPTSD. Changes in epistemic stance included improved epistemic trust ( β  = -.34, p  = .026) and decreased epistemic credulity ( β  = .37, p  = .017), which together with lower age ( β  = .43, p  = .012) and lower depression levels at baseline ( β  = .35, p  = .054) were significantly associated with baseline adjusted mean change of CPTSD symptoms during therapy and explained 48% of its variance. Discussion: In our study, patients reported a significant reduction of CPTSD symptoms and comorbid symptoms during a multimodal psychodynamic inpatient rehabilitation treatment. Improved epistemic trust may facilitate the establishment of a trusting therapeutic relationship, thus fostering an environment of openness for knowledge transfer (i.e. social learning) and the exploration of diverse viewpoints and perspectives in the therapeutic process.