Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) - Based Treatment Development for Cancer Patients Treated for Pain

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Status: Completed

Conditions: Cancer

Treatments: Behavioral: Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03910296

19-035

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this research study is to develop a psychological treatment for patients with cancer, focused on the psychological symptoms they experience during opioid therapy.

Full description

This research study is a treatment development study, which is the first time investigators are developing this psychological intervention in patients with cancer, on opioid therapy. This study is being conducted to develop a psychological intervention designed specifically for individuals with cancer. The purpose of this study is to determine how practical this intervention is, to determine patient satisfaction, and test the study procedures.

Enrollment: 10 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• must be at least 18 years of age
• speak and comprehend English sufficiently to be able to complete the study procedures and participate in psychotherapy in English
• have been diagnosed with cancer
• have an estimated survival time ≥6 months (as approximated by palliative care clinic staff)
• score ≥4 on the Opioid Risk Tool (Webster & Webster, 2005) with psychosocial distress as one of the positive items.

Exclusion criteria

• untreated bipolar disorder
• untreated psychotic disorders
• untreated borderline personality disorder
• have an estimated survival time ≤6 months (as approximated by clinic staff).

Trial design

10 participants in 1 patient group

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

Description:

* Acceptance \& Commitment Therapy (ACT) use acceptance, mindfulness, commitment, and behavior change strategies to increase psychological flexibility. * Each subject will participate for 6 sessions of Acceptance \& Commitment Therapy (ACT). * ACT trains patients to reframe their unpleasant, negative, private events while encouraging personal values.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Acceptance & Commitment Therapy