summary of evidence on seeking safety
Is Seeking Safety an evidence-based treatment? Yes. Here are examples of summaries
Seeking Safety is the only model endorsed by professional societies as having strong research support for PTSD/substance abuse:
- PTSD / SUD treatment options (2020). This comprehensive literature review addresses 13 models, finding that those originating in the substance abuse field, including Seeking Safety, are stronger on public health factors and more feasible in substance abuse treatment settings than models originating in the PTSD field.
- Research summary (2020) in the context of a chapter on the model by an independent research team.
- Provider adoption (2020). This study follows up the multisite National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network on Seeking Safety. It shows strong sustainability over time.
- Provider adoption (2018) of Seeking Safety showed it to be the second most adopted out of 6 models in a major Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health initiative spanning 59 agencies, and was sustained by 83% of agencies that had adopted it (see top of page 7 of the pdf)
- Cost-benefit analysis (2018) indicates Seeking Safety has an 88% likelihood of benefit relative to cost and is in the top three out of 23 substance abuse models studied, according to an independent government analysis
- Meta-analysis of Seeking Safety (2016) shows that among 1,997 clients Seeking Safety showed significant impact on both PTSD (moderate effect) and substance use (modest effect)
- Comprehensive literature review on all therapies for PTSD / substance abuse (2013) shows that Seeking Safety is the only model that has outperformed controls on both PTSD and substance abuse at end of treatment in randomized and/or controlled trials
Seeking Safety is the only model endorsed by professional societies as having strong research support for PTSD/substance abuse:
- Listed as strong research support for PTSD with substance use disorder by the Psychotherapy Division of the American Psychological Association
- Listed as strong research support for adults and modest research support for adolescents by the Society of Addiction Psychology of the American Psychological Association
- Listed as Level A, the highest level of evidence, by the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.
- Listed as supported by research evidence for adults and promising research evidence for adolescents by the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse
- Listed on the National Registry of Evidence-Based Practices and Programs of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [posted there in 2006]