Paws for healing: service dog training may soothe PTSD and brain injury symptoms

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Participant must be 18-65 years old at time of consent. * Participants must be DEERS eligible men or women from active duty, reserve, National Guard components, retirees, dependents and other Secretarial Designees. * Participants must have a diagnosis of one of the following: * PTSD or PTS symptoms (participants must score greater than or equal to 30 on the PCL-5 at screening) * Anxiety Disorder NOS, Unspecified Trauma Related Disorder, Unspecified Anxiety Disorder, or Adjustment Disorder with evidence of the Service Member experiencing one or more traumatic event (meeting Criterion A of PTSD in DSM 5), and evidence of intrusion symptoms, avoidance symptoms, negative changes in cognitions and mood, and alterations in arousal and reactivity related to the traumatic event or events (Criteria B, C, D, and E of PTSD in DSM 5) persisting beyond 30 days (Criterion F of PTSD in DSM 5) * Participant may be of any race, ethnicity, or gender. * Participants with a history of clinician diagnosed TBI are eligible to participate, given the considerable overlap between PTS symptomatology and post-concussive symptoms postacutely. * Participant must be able to speak and read English, and be able to consent. Exclusion Criteria: * Participants must not be younger than 18 years old or other than 65 years old at the time of consent. * Participant must not show current suicidal/homicidal plans (if the participant expresses current suicidal/homicidal plans, clearance from the participant's current behavioral health team can be provided). * Participant must not exhibit violent or psychotic behavior. * Participant must not currently or in the past month have been in an inpatient psychiatric health treatment program. * Participant must not currently have an active substance abuse disorder or been in a substance abuse program in the past month. * Participant must not have problems that limit cognitive competency to understand study procedures, including the ability to provide informed consent (e.g., severe TBI). Participant must not be unwilling to answer the study questionnaires. * Participant must not be afraid of or allergic to dogs. * Participant cannot be enrolled or participating in any other interventional study for PTS or PTSD treatment. * Participants cannot currently or in the past six months have participated in clinical service dog training. Clinical service dog training is defined as a type of animal assisted therapy where patients train service dogs as part of a complementary treatment intervention aimed at reducing symptoms associated with physical and psychological injuries. Individuals who have completed a group or individual session in the past six months that only provided an informational overview of the service dog training program will be eligible for this study.