Recruiting

Written Exposure Therapy

Sponsor:

St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

Code:

NCT05729789

Conditions

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Group Written Exposure Therapy

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this clinical trial is to test if Written Exposure Therapy (WET) works well in a group setting in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Does group WET lead to a reduction in symptoms of PTSD?
  • Is group WET better at reducing the number of patients that drop out of treatment in comparison to group Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)?

Participants will:

  • Attend 6 weekly sessions of group WET that will be delivered online by two therapists (psychologist and social worker)
  • Complete questionnaires relating to their symptoms at different points throughout the treatment

Researchers will evaluate change in PTSD symptoms over time for people who participate in group WET. They will also compare the results of group WET to the results of group CPT to see if group WET shows a similar reduction in symptoms of PTSD and fewer treatment drop-outs.

Conditions

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Study ID

NCT05729789

Start date

May 9, 2023

Status verified date

Apr, 2024

Completion date

May 9, 2025

Anticipated

Primary completion date

May 9, 2025

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 70+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Between the ages of 18 and older
  • Diagnosis of PTSD
  • Able to provide written informed consent and can read and write in English

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Diagnosis of an active severe substance use disorder (SUD)
  • Diagnosis of a psychotic disorder (schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, etc.)
  • Untreated active psychotic, manic or hypomanic symptoms
  • Has attempted suicide in the 2 months prior to beginning treatment
  • Has engaged in high-risk self-harm (e.g., cutting, burning, asphyxiation) in the 2 months prior to beginning treatment
  • Has completed CPT in the past
  • Has completed another active PTSD treatment, such as Prolonged Exposure or EMDR within the last year

Study Design

Enrollment

63 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Group Written Exposure Therapy

Patients will be invited to participate in group Written Exposure Therapy (described in the "Interventions" section).

Interventions

Group Written Exposure Therapy

Group Written Exposure Therapy (GWET) is a brief cognitive behavioural therapy for PTSD aimed at allowing patients to process their traumatic experiences in a safe environment. GWET will consist of 6 group sessions (1 orientation session and 5 weekly group sessions). Participants will be asked to complete weekly in-session written exposures where they will recount their traumatic experience. The written exposure will be followed by a guided discussion about the experience of writing the exposure. There is no homework assigned between sessions. However, group members will be asked to refrain from avoiding thinking about the trauma between sessions.

Primary outcome measure

  • Change from baseline on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) [ Time Frame: Weekly at each group session, 1 week before treatment begins, 1 week after treatment ends, and 1-month follow-up. ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Jenna Boyd, Ph.D.

905-522-1155boydj@stjosham.on.ca

Locations

Anxiety Treatment and Research Clinic, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

Recruiting

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8R2Y2

Contacts

Jenna Boyd, PhD

905-522-1155boydj@stjoes.ca

Principal Investigator:

Jenna Boyd, PhD

More Information

Sponsor

St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton

Last update posted

Apr 17, 2024

Last verified

Apr, 2024

Keywords

  • cognitive behavioural therapy
  • written exposure therapy
  • group therapy
  • posttraumatic stress disorder

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton on 2024-04-17.