# PTSD Psychotherapy for Prison Inmates: Feasibility and Pilot Study

> **NIH NIH R34** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2020 · $343,779

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Prisons and jails are the de facto largest providers of mental health services in the U.S. The failure to
effectively treat mental illness in this setting is associated with a host of dire outcomes: higher rates of suicide;
higher rates of victimization for rape and other forms of abuse; higher rates of rules infractions and solitary
confinement; and higher rates of recidivism and re-arrest after release. Thus, there is a critical need for more
effective mental health treatment strategies for incarcerated individuals. There is a particular need for more
targeted therapeutic approaches for individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The prevalence of
trauma history and PTSD are markedly higher in jail and prison populations than in the general population. In
fact, the prevalence of PTSD among inmates exceeds that of military combat veterans. Despite the pressing
need for PTSD treatment within the jail and prison population, there is virtually no research examining the
effectiveness of empirically-supported therapies for PTSD in incarcerated individuals. Cognitive Processing
Therapy (CPT) is a promising PTSD treatment for the prison setting, primarily due to its cost- and time-
effectiveness in the manualized group format. In studies of non-incarcerated individuals, CPT has been found
to be more effective than waitlist control and equivalent to Prolonged Exposure. Yet, there has never been a
study of CPT among adult prison inmates. This R34 project will lay the groundwork for a sustained research
effort to dramatically improve the treatment of PTSD in our nation's prisons. This pilot study will cover the initial
project development stages: (1) Establish the feasibility of group CPT delivery in male and female prisons; (2)
Obtain preliminary effectiveness estimates for reducing PTSD symptom severity; and (3) Identify putative
psychological mechanisms of symptom change through pre-, mid-, and post-intervention assessments.
Through a unique partnership with the State of Wisconsin Department of Corrections, we will collect and
analyze data for both male and female prison inmates. Completion of these aims is a requisite initial step to
implement and evaluate a promising PTSD intervention in this severely underserved and costly population. By
demonstrating the feasibility and effectiveness of empirically-supported group psychotherapy in the prison
setting, this program of research could ultimately help radically improve the treatment of psychiatric illness
among prison inmates.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9874608
- **Project number:** 1R34MH118319-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael R. Koenigs
- **Activity code:** R34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $343,779
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-04-06 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9874608

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9874608, PTSD Psychotherapy for Prison Inmates: Feasibility and Pilot Study (1R34MH118319-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9874608. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*