Could 3MDR Offer a New Approach to Treating PTSD?

A study of Canadian military veterans, public safety personnel and healthcare workers found that an innovative trauma therapy reduced symptoms of PTSD, depression and anxiety, with improvements lasting up to a year after treatment.

A different approach to treating PTSD

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be difficult to treat, particularly for people who have not responded to conventional trauma-focused therapies. A new study published in Brain and Behavior suggests that an approach called Multimodal Motion-Assisted Memory Desensitisation and Reconsolidation, or 3MDR, could help.

3MDR combines elements of established treatments, including exposure therapy and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR), with walking and an immersive virtual environment.

During treatment, patients walk on a treadmill towards personally selected images connected to their traumatic experiences. Music and other sensory cues are used to help bring memories and emotions to the surface. With support from a therapist, patients then describe their thoughts, feelings and physical reactions rather than avoiding the traumatic material.

The approach is designed to help people engage with memories they might otherwise find difficult to face, while supporting the processing of those memories and reducing their emotional impact.

Testing the therapy across different groups

3MDR was initially developed for military personnel and veterans experiencing combat-related and treatment-resistant PTSD. The new study explored whether it could also benefit public safety personnel, such as police officers, firefighters and paramedics, as well as frontline healthcare workers.

The researchers followed 48 Canadian participants who had clinically significant PTSD symptoms. Seventeen were military veterans or active military members, while the remainder were public safety personnel and healthcare workers. Twenty-two participants met the criteria for treatment-resistant PTSD.

Participants received 3MDR over a period of 10 to 14 weeks. Their PTSD symptoms were assessed before and after treatment, while depression, anxiety, difficulties with everyday functioning and resilience were also measured.

Improvements lasted after treatment

The researchers found that participants experienced reductions in PTSD, depression and anxiety symptoms following 3MDR. They also reported fewer difficulties with everyday life and improvements in resilience.

Among the 30 participants who completed follow-up assessments, the improvements were still evident 12 months after treatment ended. This suggests that the benefits may persist beyond the treatment period, although further research is needed to establish how effective 3MDR is compared with other treatments.

The study authors concluded:

“These results support the growing body of literature illustrating 3MDR as an effective treatment for military-related PTSD as well as PTSD-related mental health conditions in public safety personnel and healthcare workers.”

What do the findings mean?

The results add to growing evidence that 3MDR could provide another option for people experiencing PTSD, particularly those who have found conventional treatments difficult or ineffective.

However, the study had an important limitation. There was no control group for researchers to compare against. This means it is not possible to determine how much of the improvement was directly caused by 3MDR, compared with natural changes in symptoms over time or other factors.

Further research, including controlled studies comparing 3MDR with other treatments, will be important in determining how effective the approach is and which people are most likely to benefit.

For now, the findings suggest that combining movement, immersive environments and established trauma therapies could offer a promising new approach to supporting people living with PTSD.