Compassion-focused therapy enhances outcomes of PTSD pharmacotherapy: A randomized controlled trial

traumatic stress disorder is a debilitating condition often resistant to pharmacotherapy alone. Compassion-focused therapy may offer additional benefits in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. We evaluated the effectiveness of compassion-focused therapy as an adjunct to standard pharmacological treatment for reducing post-traumatic stress disorder symptom severity in male veterans. A randomized controlled trial was conducted involving 50 male veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition. Participants were randomly allocated to either an intervention group receiving a weekly 8-session compassion-focused therapy program alongside pharmacotherapy or a control group receiving pharmacotherapy alone. Symptom severity, depression, and anxiety were measured at baseline and post-intervention. The compassion-focused therapy group exhibited significant reductions in all post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, including reexperiencing, avoidance, hyperarousal, emotional numbness, as well as depression and anxiety (all p < .001). The control group showed modest, but statistically significant, decreases in depression and anxiety (both p < .001). Participants in the control group failed to improve reexperience, hyper-arousal, avoidance, and emotional numbness (all p ≥ .162). Between-group analysis demonstrated the superior efficacy of compassion-focused therapy, with statistically and clinically meaningful differences in all outcomes (all p < .001). Compassion-focused therapy is an effective adjunctive treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, providing substantial symptom reductions beyond pharmacotherapy alone. These findings support its integration into standard care for individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder and encourage further research on its long-term benefits and broader applicability.