Recruiting

EAET

Sponsor:

UCLA

Code:

NCT07218757

Conditions

Musculoskeletal Pain

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain (CBT-CP)

Study Details

Brief summary:

About one in three Veterans lives with long-term (chronic) pain, and many of them also struggle with past trauma and mental health issues like depression, anxiety, or PTSD. Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET) is a type of talk therapy that helps people understand and express their emotions, especially those linked to past trauma. This therapy has been shown to help reduce pain and improve mental health.

So far, multiple studies have tested EAET in both Veterans and civilians, and the results have been promising. EAET has helped people feel less pain, move better, and experience fewer mental health symptoms. Because of these strong results, the U.S. Department of Health \& Human Services named EAET a Best Practice for managing pain in 2019.

Two earlier studies at a VA hospital in Los Angeles found that EAET worked even better than another well-known therapy called cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain (CBT-CP) for older Veterans. However, those studies were done in tightly controlled settings. Now, researchers want to see if EAET works just as well when it's used in everyday healthcare settings, by different types of doctors and therapists.

Doctors and therapists at up to 7 VA hospitals across the country will be trained to use EAET. They will then try it out with Veterans to see how well it works and how easy it is to use in real clinics. Veterans, doctors, and other staff will be asked for feedback to learn what helps or gets in the way of using EAET.

Conditions

Musculoskeletal Pain

Study ID

NCT07218757

Start date

Jan 2, 2026

Status verified date

Aug, 2026

Completion date

Jul, 2030

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jul, 2030

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Veteran at one of 7 VA healthcare systems;
  • Age 18 years or older;
  • At least 3 months of musculoskeletal pain, defined using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) diagnostic codes, which include the following M-code diagnoses: back pain, fibromyalgia, limb pain, neck pain; R-code diagnoses: pelvic and perineal pain, jaw pain; and G-code diagnoses: tension headaches; and
  • Pain of at least moderate severity, defined as ≥4 "on average" on the 0-10 Numeric Pain Rating Scale

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Poorly controlled major psychiatric illness (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar I disorder with acute psychotic symptoms, severe manic or depressive episode listed as active in CPRS);
  • Active suicide or violence risk (e.g., currently suicidal or homicidal ideation, intent, or plans);
  • Active severe drug/alcohol use disorder (e.g., drinking more than intended, tried to stop but couldn't, spent significant time drinking or being sick from aftereffects, wanted drink so badly you couldn't think of anything else, interference with home or work life, continued to drink despite problems, given up on activities, dangerous situations, withdrawal and/or tolerance); and
  • Current participation in CBT-CP or EAET, or participation in either intervention in the last 6 months, via clinical care or another research study.

Study Design

Enrollment

672 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Emotional awareness and expression therapy (EAET)

Seeks to reduce physical (e.g., pain) and emotional (e.g., depression, anxiety) symptoms by helping individuals become aware of their emotions, express them, and resolve emotional conflicts. It will use techniques such as writing about stress, role playing how to handle difficult relationships, recognizing and expressing anger and other feelings, and being more open with others.

active comparator: Cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain (CBT-CP)

Seeks to help individuals function better and improve symptoms by teaching various cognitive and behavioral skills to manage symptoms. It will use techniques such as relaxation training, engaging in pleasant activities, pacing yourself, and changing unhelpful ways of thinking.

Interventions

Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET)

Talk therapy that helps people understand and express their feelings, especially emotions linked to past stress or trauma. The goal is to help reduce long-term pain by dealing with hidden emotional struggles that may be affecting the body.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain (CBT-CP)

Talk therapy that helps people learn how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors affect their pain. It teaches skills to manage pain, reduce stress, and improve daily life.

Primary outcome measure

  • Change in "pain severity" from baseline to 10 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months post baseline [ Time Frame: Baseline, along with 10 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months post baseline ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Brandon C Yarns, MD, MS

310 268 3304VAChronicPainMultiStudy@va.gov

Locations

University of California, Los Angeles

Recruiting

Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095

Contacts

Brandon C Yarns C Yarns, MD, MS

310 268 3304VAChronicPainMultiStudy@va.gov

More Information

Sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles

Last update posted

Aug 24, 2026

Last verified

Aug, 2026

Keywords

  • Chronic Pain
  • Psychotherapy
  • Musculoskeletal Disease
  • Mental Health

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of California, Los Angeles on 2026-08-24.