Reviewing the Literature and Methodological Issues

 Respond to posts of two peers in this discussion. As part of your reply, comment on the ways in which your peer's annotated entries were effective in summarizing the studies for you, and ways in which the annotated entries could be more effective.. You need to respond  about each peers posting which contains two articles.

Laurie Leitch, M., Vanslyke, J., & Allen, M. (2009). Somatic experiencing treatment with social service workers following hurricanes katrina and rita. Social Work, 54(1), 9-18.

Laurie Leitch, PhD, is the research director for the Foundation of Human Enrinchment and a coufounder of the Trauma Research Institute. Jan Vanslyke, PhD, and Marisa Allen, ABD, are senior evaluation specialists at Reid and Associates. The purpose of this study was to determine if the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Resiliency Model (SE/TRM) could "reduce the post disaster symptoms of social service workers“ who deliver services to individuals and communities after a disaster.

The researchers conducted a quantitative study of 142 social service workers who provided service after huricanes Katrina and Rita in New Orleans.  The study was conducted on a nonrandom sample of 142 social service workers. 91 participants received SE/TRM and they were compared with 51 workers who did not receive SE/TRM and were matched via propensity score matching. They hypothesis was that the use of SE/TRM could reduce the symptoms of disaster relief workers post disaster. Data analysis showed that there was a significant difference between the two groups in relation to post disaster relief. The group that received SE/TRM showed significantly lower PTSD symptoms and psychological distress and higher levels of resiliency. The authors noted that all of the participants in this study were employed, which sets them apart from many disaster survivors as well as the study was not a „randomized control study“. Further research is needed to further study the effectiveness of SE/TRM in the field of disaster treatment.

Metcalf, O., Varker, T., Forbes, D., Phelps, A., Dell, L., DiBattista, A., Ralph, N., & O’Donnell, M. (2016). Efficacy of Fifteen Emerging Interventions for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 29, 88-92.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of 15 "new or novel interventions“ that are being utilizef for the treatment of PTSD. This work was funded by the Department of Veterans‘ Affaris and National Health and Medical Research Council Programs. The study eliminated appraoches that did not offer "moderate quality evidence from randomized controlled trials“ by a team of 5 Trauma Experts. To be included, studies also required adults over 18 years of age, 70% of the sample majority were diagnosed with PTSD and outcome data were reported for severity of symptoms and diagnosis. The approaches that fulfilled this critera are emotional freedom technique, yoga, mantra-based meditation and accupuncture).

The result of the study showed that the four treatments noted above were shown to have oderate evidence to effectively treat PTSD. The study also showed that the majority of emerging interventions lacked the levels of evidence needed to demonstrate their efficacy. Therefore more research is needed to substantiate the effectiveness of these alternative treatments. A couple of limiations of the study included the exclusion of non english research and the elimination of studies that utilized an alternative approach along with other psychological treatments. Another limitation not noted in the study is that the search critiera did not specifically include "somatic“ interventions. Further, the majority of studies focused on veteran/military samples with a majority of the participants being male with combat related exposure.

References

Laurie Leitch, M., Vanslyke, J., & Allen, M. (2009). Somatic experiencing treatment with social service workers following hurricanes katrina and rita. Social Work, 54(1), 9-18. doi:10.1093/sw/54.1.9

Metcalf, O., Varker, T., Forbes, D., Phelps, A., Dell, L., DiBattista, A., Ralph, N., & O’Donnell, M. (2016). Efficacy of Fifteen Emerging Interventions for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 29, 88-92.

2nd Peer Posting

The first journal article that will be discussed is the article entitled Army Suicides: Knowns” and a Interpretative Framework for Future Directions. The journal article had a conclusion that had a consistence of variable information in suicides in the Army. First their age was between 17 and 30, their race was white, and they had a previous mental health issue (Griffin, 2012) . The journal article was trying to lean toward a direction of quantitative using a method of administrative information, just trying to get the percentages and facts of the subject matter in the reader’s view, but it would up ending in  a qualitative article, due to the area that conclusions are ongoing, and that data on key areas are missing from the clients past mental health issues and trauma, a can only give a tentative conclusion, ongoing research will have to be conducted (Sheperis, Young, & Daniels, 2010) . The research approach utilized was a cluster and data analysis from both the Army National Guard, and the Defense Manpower Data Center, post deployment health assessments and reassessments. There was some good information in the article first it showed the percentage of more experienced Soldiers who have committed suicide, compared to younger Soldiers, which gives a good data base for comparison. The down side to this article is that it does not take into account that 70 percent of the armed forces population is white and doesn’t take this into account, if the minority population exceeds that majority percentage wise this needs to be taken into the research, there are bound to be more out of this area than other areas, it needed a percentage broken down in this area, or a better explanation.

The second journal article would be Suicide in the Army, this is another qualitative research journal article because more data and resolutions to the subject matter are still being examined and looked at. With the nation being in the longest conflict in the history of the United States, the information and results on the mental health of those involved will take years to decipher and look at, the ongoing examination of this data is still being pursued to this day because there are still Soldiers in the area, and the nation still has not left these battlefields  (Linberry & O'Conner, 2012) . The research involved screening risks through the Millennium Cohort Study, evidence based therapies, and cognitive behavioral therapy, these combined to give the results to counselors on a basis and warning signs to look for in those who are suffering from the warning signs of suicide and the training that was recommended for the counselors who have a cliental base with a suicide risk  (Linberry & O'Conner, 2012) . One of the main area of interest is to understand how well the client sleeps, and sleep disturbances. These are warning signs of a risk and should be paid close attention to in the sessions that therapist have with their clients. The journal article was a great source of information, not only did it relay the fat of suicide risks, but the lessons learned, and the recognition of higher levels today of psychiatric illness than in the past. One of the main reasons for this is that a service member may not want to go forward in saying there is an issue due to there might be repercussions of losing a security clearance which is needed to perform the job they were assigned and if it a career they are trying to succeed in, there may be chapter cases, and pass over for promotion. A look into how the services perceive these cases may need a longer look.

References:

Griffin, J. (2012). Army Suicides: "Kowns" and an Interprative Framework for Future Directions. Military Psychology, 488-512.

Linberry, T., & O'Conner, S. (2012). Suicide in the Army. Mayo Clinic, 871-877.

Sheperis, C., Young, S., & Daniels, H. (2010). Counseling Research. Hoboken: Parsons Learning Solutions.