Debra Kaysen, PhD, ABPP, will lead a new Department program aimed at getting effective treatments to victims of trauma. Up to 70% of Americans will be exposed to traumatic events like car accidents, assault, child abuse, and combat at some point during their lives, and millions around the globe suffer from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Effective treatments for PTSD can help 80 % of those who receive treatment improve and lead normal lives, but most of those in need do not get effective care. The Program for Trauma Recovery Innovations (TRI) will help address this gap.

The primary goal of TRI is to reduce the treatment gap and increase access to effective care by developing treatment approaches for trauma-exposed populations that can be implemented efficiently in high and low-resource settings. To disseminate trauma-focused interventions, TRI will study novel means of delivering treatments and rebuild existing interventions from the ground up to make them easier to learn and deliver. This will result in treatments that are easier to use and sustain in real world clinical settings across the globe. No existing program has this unique mission. Given the public health import of traumatic events like sexual assault, natural disasters, and combat exposure, this program has tremendous potential to increase our profile as a leader in this field. TRI fills a unique role both within the UW and within the department to improve care for individuals who are trauma exposed.