A Mindfulness Intervention for Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Every day, many United States veterans are suffering from the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Responses to trauma may vary from person to person; however, a diagnosis of PTSD includes the individual experiencing clinically significant distress in their social and occupational areas of functioning. The impact of PTSD on a veteran’s life could impact their ability to carry out activities of daily living, decrease the amount of social participation they have, and limit their ability to perform instrumental daily activities, such as grocery shopping. Mindfulness is the practice of paying full attention to the present moment, without judgment, and has been utilized for centuries. Occupational therapists are qualified mental health practitioners for treating sequelae of PTSD and for utilizing mindfulness interventions in practice. There is limited literature available that evaluates the effectiveness of mindfulness practices with PTSD in an occupational therapy (OT) setting. Though, the literature calls for the creation of an OT mindfulness module for veterans with PTSD. At present, an OT manualized module has yet to be published within the literature. This capstone project sought to fill the gap in literature and provide a resource to occupational therapists looking to utilize mindfulness interventions for veteran clients with PTSD. An OT mindfulness module for veterans with PTSD is presented in this paper.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesspring2023/1017/thumbnail.jp