Department of Psychology at Ryerson University – intervention for first responders with PTSD. – Ontario Municipal Fire Prevention Officer's Association

Department of Psychology at Ryerson University – intervention for first responders with PTSD.

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Submitted by Julianne Bushe, Department of Psychology at Ryerson University.

Dear OMFPOA Members,

My name is Julianne Bushe and I’m a research assistant in the Department of Psychology at Ryerson University. I’m writing because our research team has developed a free intervention for military members, veterans, first responders, and healthcare workers with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and their loved ones called Couple HOPES (www.couplehopes.com). Couples HOPES is an online, guided, self-help intervention for couples to improve PTSD and enhance relationship functioning at the same time.

Couple HOPES was developed by experts in PTSD and relationship therapies from the IMPACT Lab at Ryerson University and the TULiP Lab at York University. Both labs are committed to developing clinically relevant, original research aimed at decreasing individual PTSD symptoms, as well as improving relationships. We created this program to provide high-quality care that also overcomes the stigma associated with seeking mental health services and the logistical, economic, geographic, and social barriers to help.

Our current study testing involves freely providing our online intervention to military members, veterans, first responders, and healthcare workers with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and their romantic partners, if they are eligible.

We believe that Couple HOPES can help promote resistance, resilience, and recovery for all military members, veterans, first responders, and healthcare workers who are likely to encounter a serious traumatic event or critical incident.

Collaboration between our two groups can help promote Couple HOPES in order to get the intervention and help, to those who may need it in order to improve their quality of life.

Does this seem like something you may benefit from?

I’ve attached a flyer here that provides more information about the study, and people who are interested can also visit our website (www.couplehopes.com) or watch these 1-minute and 30-second video clips here to learn more.

Couple HOPES Frequently Asked Questions to share with anyone you believe may require more information on Couple HOPES

Best wishes,
Julianne Bushe
Research Assistant – Couple HOPES
IMPACT Lab, Department of Psychology, Ryerson University

| (e) jbushe@ryerson.ca | (w) IMPACT Lab Website | (w) Couple HOPES Website