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Patients who step into the CAREN unit walk on a treadmill toward a stimulus, sounds and images that may remind them of events that trigger traumatic memories. A therapist is with them through the process, guiding the patient confronting the memories.

While Harpe does not have PTSD, she said testing the 3MDR brought back vivid recollections of a mission in Afghanistan when she was in the infantry.

“I have worked with some clients who have been diagnosed with PTSD, and I have to say, the 3MDR is mind-blowing. My whole body was activated. You just cannot get the same thing through talk therapy in an office,” she said.

Study participants are receiving the therapy once a week for six weeks.

“By walking towards the fear, there is a shift in the brain,” said Suzette Brémault-Phillips, director of HiMARC in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine and co-principal investigator for the study in Canada.

The 3MDR system — developed by Col. Eric Vermetten, head of research at the Military Mental Health unit of the Dutch ministry of defence in the Netherlands — has been effective in the Netherlands where it’s been used to treat the rise in PTSD cases there after its mission to Afghanistan.

Vermetten traveled to Edmonton to train Brémault-Phillips and her team to use the system.

HiMARC’s founding members also include the Royal Canadian Legion Alberta-NWT Command, NAIT, the Department of National Defence, Veteran Affairs Canada and Covenant Health.

“HiMARC is creating hope and I am so grateful for this group. I really believe this is just the beginning,” added Harpe.