summary of evidence on seeking safety
Is Seeking Safety an evidence-based treatment? Yes. Here are examples of summaries. See also our page of all studies.
- Meta-analysis (2023) by an independent team shows positive effects for Seeking Safety on both PTSD and substance use disorder.
- Systematic review of gender-based treatments (2023) by an independent team showing positive effects for Seeking Safety
- Provider adoption (2020). This study by an independent team shows strong sustainability of Seeking Safety in the multisite National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network.
- Research summary (2020) in a chapter on the model by an independent research team.
- PTSD / SUD treatment options (2020). This comprehensive literature review addresses 13 models, finding that models originating in the addiction field, including Seeking Safety, are stronger on public health factors and more feasible in addiction treatment settings than models originating in the PTSD field.
- Provider adoption (2018) study by Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health surveyed 59 agencies and found Seeking Safety to be the second most adopted of 6 models, and sustained by 83% of agencies that adopted it (per page 7 of the pdf).
- Cost-benefit analysis (2018) by an independent government analysis 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.
- Meta-analysis of Seeking Safety (2016) by an independent team 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.
- 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]