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Patrick Sylvers, PhD

Personal Statement

Dr. Sylvers serves as the Director of Psychology Training at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, American Lake Division. His primary research interests include personality and its relation to treatment outcomes, treatment outcomes related to trauma and anxiety related disorders, and the etiology and treatment of aggressive behavior. Dr. Sylvers also serves as a consultant for the Department of Veterans Affairs Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Depression training initiative.

Education

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy , VA Puget Sound, Seattle Division , 2010-2011
Ph.D. , Clinical Psychology , Emory University, Atlanta, GA , 2004-2010
B.S. , Psychology , University of Washington, Seattle, WA , 2000-2002

Teaching Philosophy

​I believe in competency based supervision using multi-modal learning strategies tailored to students’ strengths. As such, I believe that students should frequently be measured on objective, competency-based standards. Students and trainers may then work collaboratively to adapt the training plan based on these standards.

Recent Publications

Comparison of Prolonged Exposure vs Cognitive Processing Therapy for Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among US Veterans: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
(2022 Jan 4)
JAMA Netw Open 5(1): e2136921
Schnurr PP, Chard KM, Ruzek JI, Chow BK, Resick PA, Foa EB, Marx BP, Friedman MJ, Bovin MJ, Caudle KL, Castillo D, Curry KT, Hollifield M, Huang GD, Chee CL, Astin MC, Dickstein B, Renner K, Clancy CP, Collie C, Maieritsch K, Bailey S, Thompson K, Messina M, Franklin L, Lindley S, Kattar K, Luedtke B, Romesser J, McQuaid J, Sylvers P, Varkovitzky R, Davis L, MacVicar D, Shih MC

Virtual Standardized Patients vs Academic Training for Learning Motivational Interviewing Skills in the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the US Military: A Randomized Trial.
(2020 Oct 1)
JAMA Netw Open 3(10): e2017348
Reger GM, Norr AM, Rizzo AS, Sylvers P, Peltan J, Fischer D, Trimmer M, Porter S, Gant P, Baer JS

Randomized controlled trial of acceptance and commitment therapy for distress and impairment in OEF/OIF/OND veterans.
(2017 Aug)
Psychol Trauma 9(Suppl 1): 74-84
Lang AJ, Schnurr PP, Jain S, He F, Walser RD, Bolton E, Benedek DM, Norman SB, Sylvers P, Flashman L, Strauss J, Raman R, Chard KM

The efficacy of Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in VA primary care.
(2016 May)
Psychol Serv 13(2): 156-161
Glover NG, Sylvers PD, Shearer EM, Kane MC, Clasen PC, Epler AJ, Plumb-Vilardaga JC, Bonow JT, Jakupcak M

Quetiapine for the treatment of cocaine use disorder.
(2015 Apr 1)
Drug Alcohol Depend 149(): 18-24
Tapp A, Wood AE, Kennedy A, Sylvers P, Kilzieh N, Saxon AJ

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