PTSD: National Center for PTSD

PE Coach for Providers

Prolonged Exposure (PE) is an evidence-based psychotherapy for PTSD. Research has shown PE to be one of the most effective treatments for PTSD.

PE Coach is an application (app) for mobile devices (iPhone, Android phone, iPod Touch, iPad, or Android tablet) that was created to increase conveniences for clinicians and patients working through the PE treatment manual. The app is downloaded onto a patient's mobile device to be used as a treatment companion during PE therapy.

Features include:

• Audio and visual psychoeducation about PE and common reactions to trauma.
• Capability for audio recording of PE sessions directly onto the patient's mobile device.
• PTSD symptom tracking over time to evaluate treatment progress and outcomes.
• Continuous availability of homework forms and record of completed tasks to facilitate feedback and monitor patient adherence to between-session assignments.
• An interactive breathing retraining coach.

How to Use PE Coach

PE Coach is intended for use as a treatment companion for a patient working with a therapist trained in Prolonged Exposure. Exposure therapy is a recommended (evidence-based) treatment for PTSD that is available at many VA/DoD and other behavioral health clinics.

This PE Coach Clinician Guide is to help you use this app with your patient. Download the Guide for iPhone (PDF) or Guide for Android (PDF).

PE Coach may help to increase the rates with which providers use PE after training and improve adherence to the published treatment manual. The conveniences of PE Coach may also improve patient homework adherence and, as a result, improve treatment outcomes.

Healthcare providers interested in using this app should download the clinician guide for the appropriate mobile device platform and review the app itself before introducing it to clients.

NOTE: PTSD is a serious mental health condition that often requires professional evaluation and treatment.

• PE Coach is designed to be used during professional care.
• PE Coach does not provide self-help and is not intended to provide treatment.

Privacy and Security

Any data created by the user of this app are only as secure as the phone/device itself. Use the security features on your device if you are concerned about the privacy of your information. Users are free to share data, but as the self-monitoring data belong to each user, HIPAA concerns do not apply while the data is stored or shared. If the user were to transmit or share data with a health care provider, the provider must then comply with HIPAA rules.

Who Created PE Coach

PE Coach was a collaborative effort between the VA's National Center for PTSD, and the Department of Defense's DHA Connected Health and Center for Deployment Psychology