MIRECC / CoE

New and Updated Resources for Depression and Trauma Exposure

Our Clinical Educator Grant program helps VISN 16 and 17 mental health providers create and share resources that improve treatment for rural and other Veterans who face barriers to care. We give these products to Veterans, VA providers, and the public for free. Visit our Clinical Educator Products webpage to access all of our products.

Living with Purpose: A Guide for Getting More Out of Each Day

Developers: Natalie Hundt, PhD, Maria Armento, PhD, and Jeff Cully, PhD

Many Veterans with depression do not engage in psychotherapy because of barriers like busy work schedules, chronic health conditions, or lack of transportation. This self-help workbook for mild to moderate depression provides an alternative that may better fit into Veterans’ busy lives.

• Includes a clinician guide that provides a brief overview of the Veteran self-help workbook and behavioral activation.
• Helpful as an adjunct to psychotherapy, allowing Veterans to learn skills independently between sessions. This allows the clinician to use face-to-face time to teach more advanced coping skills.
• Incorporates behavioral activation and goal setting to get Veterans more active and more involved in rewarding activities.
• Beneficial for Veterans with mild to moderate depression who are interested in self-management or those who may have mild comorbid disorders such as anxiety or PTSD.
• Published 2023

Pro Tips for Coaching webSTAIR: A Transdiagnostic Web-based Program for Veterans Exposed to Trauma

Developers: McKenzie K. Roddy, PhD, Julianna Hogan, PhD, and Marylene Cloitre, PhD

webSTAIR is a Veteran-facing online version of Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR), which was developed for individuals who have experienced trauma. webSTAIR combines self-paced online training modules and virtual coaching sessions to support real-life skill application to improve emotion regulation, relationship functioning, and quality of life for Veterans who have experienced a trauma. The goal of this training manual is to increase the reach of webSTAIR to Veterans with mild-to-moderate levels of trauma-related symptoms.

• Provides an introduction to webSTAIR and describes who is a good fit for the program, available models, and considerations when introducing Veterans to webSTAIR.
• Helps clinicians navigate the webSTAIR program clinician and Veteran dashboards, features, progress monitor, resources, toolbox, course list, user achievement badges, and module content.
• webSTAIR is not an appropriate intervention for Veterans with severe mental health problems, or with primary clinical concerns that would be best treated by a specific type of intervention (such as Exposure Response Prevention for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Panic Disorder).
• Published 2023

Last updated: July 25, 2023