Comparison of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Dialogical Exposure Therapy (DET) for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
• Interventions: Behavioral: Dialogical exposure therapy; Behavioral: Cognitive Processing Therapy (German Adaptation)

• Registration Number: NCT01693497
• Lead Sponsor: Ludwig-Maximilians - University of Munich

Brief Summary

This study aims to compare two active psychological treatments for PTSD. One is an established therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) which operates as a control condition for a newly developed intervention, an integrative Gestalt-based trauma therapy, Dialogical Exposure Therapy (DET). There is no inactive control condition. We expect the two therapies to perform on a similar level, which would constitute evidence for the efficacy of DET.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2002-09
• Primary Completion: 2011-09
• Study Completion: 2012-04
• Status Verified: 2012-09
• Study First Submitted: 2012-09-18
• Study First Submitted QC: 2012-09-24
• Last Update Submitted: 2012-09-24
• Study First Posted: 2012-09-26
• Last Update Posted: 2012-09-26

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 150

Inclusion Criteria

• main diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder
• time since trauma is at least three months

Exclusion Criteria

• acute suicidal ideation
• severe personality pathology
• substance dependence
• early childhood trauma (e.g. child sexual abuse)
• history of psychosis
• dissociative identity disorder
• neurological impairment (e.g. craniocerebral injury with functional impairment)
• severe pre-traumatic depression
• ongoing psychotherapy
• lack of motivation
• lack of German language skills

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Dialogical exposure therapy	Dialogical exposure therapy	Psychotherapy based on a manual integrating Gestalt principles with cognitive-behavioral techniques.
Cognitive Processing Therapy	Cognitive Processing Therapy (German Adaptation)	Cognitive Processing Therapy, a cognitive behavioral psychotherapy for PTSD patients. Based on a German manual adapted from Resick and Schnicke, 1993.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
PTBS Symptom Severity	change from pretreatment to posttreatment (planned duration 12 weeks on average) to follow-up (six months after posttreatment)	Even though participants are assessed by a clinical interview before entering the study, the primary outcome measure is the PDS which is applied before and after treatment as well as at 6-month follow-up.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
PTSD Symptom change (IES-R)	change from pretreatment to posttreatment (planned duration 12 weeks on average) to follow-up (six months after posttreatment). Also measured at each session (up to 24 time points between pre- and posttreatment).	The IES-R is a short instrument for the measurement of PTSD symptom severity. In this study, the IES-R is applied before every session in order to measure symptom change over the time of the therapy.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

LS für Klinische Psychologie und Psychotherapie; 🇩🇪 Munich, Germany