Leveraging the Single-Session Intervention approach to address psychological distress following a traumatic event: Opportunities to advance early intervention for trauma

Traumatic events are commonly experienced in the general population. Among those exposed, trauma-related mental health conditions, such as PTSD, depression and anxiety disorders, represent a significant cause of disability and impose considerable burden on affected individuals and their families. The symptoms of these mental health conditions can occur following traumatic events such as intimate partner violence, child abuse, and neighborhood violence, as well as in the aftermath of large-scale traumatic events such as natural disasters or mass shootings. Persistent symptoms of traumatic stress that go unaddressed can increase the risk of development of stress-related disorders and further disability, underscoring the need for scalable, accessible interventions. In this commentary, we explored the current literature on single-session interventions (SSIs) and brief early psychological interventions for trauma-exposed populations to reflect on opportunities to adapt these scalable single session interventions as a first step in the continuum of care to support early intervention and response to traumatic stress. Guided by the UK Medical Research Council and NIH frameworks for complex interventions, we synthesized the evidence from six systematic reviews and one umbrella review on single-session interventions (SSIs) for various mental health conditions and nine systematic reviews on brief and early psychosocial interventions for trauma. Findings suggest that trauma-informed, phase-specific, and ethically delivered SSIs, such as those incorporating active skill-building from cognitive behavioral therapy, may have potential as low-intensity, scalable entry points within a broader continuum of care. Overall, the SSI approach may offer promise for improving mental health outcomes after traumatic experiences. Further research is needed to optimize the effectiveness of these approaches, as well as the long-term impact, implementation, and delivery in underserved community settings where the need for such interventions is great.