Contemporary Clinical Trials
August 1, 2026
Dessa Bergen-Cico, A. Ramon, Benjamin I. Felleman et al.
Psychological distress, encompassing PTSD, depression, and anxiety-is highly prevalent among Veterans receiving care in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) primary care settings, yet it frequently goes untreated or undertreated. Traditional psychotherapies and psychiatric medications are often misaligned with Veterans' preferences for self-reliance, low-stigma formats, and skill-based...
Contemporary Clinical Trials
November 1, 2025
Lisham Ashrafioun, Anna Stephens, Hugh F Crean et al.
Suicide risk and chronic pain are significant public health problems affecting veterans at a disproportionally high rate. There is a dearth of interventions directly targeting both chronic pain and suicide risk. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Pain and Suicide (MBCT-P/S) integrates components from MBCT-Pain and MBCT-Suicide, both of which demonstrate promising effects on their...
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
March 1, 2022
Kyle Possemato, Nina Silander, Nardos Bellete et al.
ABSTRACT: Although nightmares are known to predict the clinical course of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), research on the relationship between specific nightmare characteristics and PTSD severity is sparse. This study conducted a secondary analysis to explore how five nightmare characteristics are cross-sectionally related to PTSD severity in 76 combat veterans with PTSD and at-risk...
Medical Care
December 1, 2014
Dessa Bergen-Cico, Kyle Possemato, Wilfred R Pigeon
Patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have significant medical morbidity, which may be mediated by hypothalamic pituitary axis (HPA) dysfunction and reflected in cortisol output. Many veterans with PTSD are hesitant to engage in trauma-focused exposure treatments; therefore briefer, non-exposure-based treatments are needed; one such promising approach is an abbreviated Primary Care...
Journal of American College Health
June 24, 2013
Dessa Bergen-Cico, Kyle Possemato, Sanghyeon Cheon
172 citations
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the study was to examine potential psychological health benefits of participating in a brief (5-week) mindfulness-based stress reduction (brief MBSR) program integrated into an academic course. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 119 undergraduate students (treatment: n = 72; control: n = 47) enrolled in elective academic courses on addictive behaviors, between January...