When the Label Does Not Match the Content of a Trial: “Well‐Being Therapy” in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Commentary on Radstaak et al. (2020)

Abstract

AbstractRadstaak, Hüning, and Bohlmeijer (2020) reported on a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of well‐being therapy (WBT) compared to treatment as usual (TAU) in the treatment of residual posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. No significant differences emerged between treatment conditions. However, our view is that what the authors labeled as WBT did not match the manualized psychotherapeutic strategy, and what was defined as TAU was actually an active control group. Further methodological limitations hinder the interpretation of results and make it difficult to draw conclusions from the study. Radstaak et al. (2020) deserve credit for addressing the vexing and neglected problem of residual symptoms in PTSD. However, the role of WBT in PTSD treatment still needs to be explored via an effectively designed RCT. Given that WBT does not require exposure to a patient's index traumatic event as a means of alleviating PTSD symptoms, WBT may represent a promising alternative to current treatments of PTSD.