TRTP Research
Research into The Richards Trauma Process is growing, with early studies now helping to build a clearer picture of its potential role in trauma recovery.
Building the Evidence Base for TRTP
The purpose of this research section is to present the evidence for TRTP in a clear, balanced and responsible way. It outlines the studies completed to date, explains where they sit within the broader research pathway, and shows how early findings are informing the next stages of investigation.
The first formal study of TRTP was designed as an important early step in evaluating the process and considering whether it should be tested in a larger randomised trial. A separate preliminary outcomes report also found that the early data supports further research.
As with any developing therapeutic approach, the evidence base is still evolving. However, the research completed so far provides a meaningful foundation for continued investigation, professional discussion and future study.
TRTP on the Practice-First Evidence Pathway
TRTP on the Practice-First Evidence Pathway
TRTP has followed a practice-informed research pathway, which is common for many developing therapeutic approaches.
In this pathway, a therapeutic process first develops through clinical practice. It is then structured into a clear and teachable method, delivered by trained practitioners in real-world settings, and progressively evaluated through formal research.
This is the pathway TRTP has followed. Before the first feasibility study was undertaken, TRTP had already been protocolised and delivered in the community. The preliminary outcomes report also describes TRTP as a manualised treatment and includes practice-based data from 28 trained practitioners, covering outcomes for 715 clients.
This gives the current research an important real-world foundation. The formal studies are not examining an abstract idea; they are evaluating a structured therapeutic process that has already been taught, implemented and used in clinical practice
Practice First Evidence Pathway
1. Conceptual foundation This stage defines the theory of change behind TRTP: what the process is intended to do, why it may work, and which trauma-related mechanisms it aims to influence.
2. Manualisation This stage turns the intervention into a clearly structured, repeatable method, including session flow, scripts, practitioner competencies, contraindications, and fidelity requirements.
3. Practitioner training This stage ensures the intervention can be taught consistently, delivered safely, and supported through practitioner education, supervision, standards, and ongoing quality control.
4. Case study documentation This stage captures detailed individual client outcomes in a formal, publishable way, moving beyond anecdotal reports into structured clinical case evidence.
5. Feasibility study This stage tests whether formal research on TRTP is practical, including recruitment, consent, assessment tools, data collection, practitioner adherence, client acceptability, and follow-up processes.
6. Pilot study This stage runs a small-scale outcomes study to test the research design and generate early signals of change across measures such as trauma symptoms, anxiety, depression, functioning, and client experience.
7. Controlled trial This stage compares TRTP with another intervention, waitlist, treatment-as-usual, or active control group to evaluate effectiveness under more rigorous research conditions.
Where the Research Sits Today
TRTP is now in the early formal research stage of its development.
This means the current pathway is focused on understanding how TRTP works when delivered by trained practitioners in real-world settings, whether it can be delivered consistently and safely, and what early outcome patterns are beginning to show.
The feasibility article explains that TRTP had already been structured and delivered in the community before the study began. That study looked at feasibility, safety, acceptability and preliminary outcomes.
The audit adds a larger body of practice-based data from trained practitioners working with clients in private practice across Australia. Together, these documents show that TRTP is no longer simply a practice-based approach. It is now being examined through formal research, with early findings providing a foundation for the next stage of study.
Where TRTP sits Today
Based on the currently available material, TRTP is best positioned in the pilot / early formal research phase of the practice-first pathway.
The feasibility article says the therapy had already been protocolised and delivered in the community before the study began, and that the study’s purpose was to test feasibility, safety, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes in a structured community setting.
The preliminary outcomes report adds a larger practice-based dataset collected from trained practitioners in private practice across Australia.
Together, those documents support a clear and defensible message: TRTP is now on a formal evidence-building path, but it has not yet completed that path.
Research
Feasibility Study
The feasibility study represents the first formal study of TRTP and an important early step in its research pathway.
The study was designed to explore whether TRTP could be evaluated in routine clinical practice, including whether participants could be recruited and retained, whether data collection was workable, and whether early outcome patterns supported the case for larger research.
It used a single-arm before-and-after feasibility design in a community setting. This means all participants received TRTP, and their outcomes were measured before and after the process. The study did not include randomisation or a control group, so it was not designed to prove that TRTP caused the changes observed.
The article concludes that a larger controlled trial would be warranted, making the feasibility study a foundation for the next stage of formal TRTP research.
Outcomes
Preliminary Outcomes Report
The outcomes report adds another important layer to the early research picture for TRTP.
Separate from the feasibility study, this report looked at preliminary DASS 21 outcomes from 715 clients who received TRTP during 2017–2018. These clients were supported by 28 trained TRTP practitioners, with data collected at the first and final TRTP sessions.
This gives the report a strong real-world practice base. It helps show what was being observed across a larger group of clients in everyday therapeutic settings, rather than within a single formal study.
The report concludes that the results support further research. It also clearly notes its limits: the data were collected for in-house evaluation, there was no control group, and outcomes were not followed beyond the final TRTP session.
