Adaptation of Written Exposure Therapy in Substance Treatment (WEST)

Potomac Health Foundations

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; Substance Use Disorders

Treatments: Behavioral: Treatment as Usual; Behavioral: Written Exposure Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07108608

WEST 3.0

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this pilot non-randomized, uncontrolled clinical trial is to test the feasibility and efficacy of written exposure therapy (WET) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as adapted for use within the context of residential substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. All participants meet criteria for PTSD and are in a short term residential SUD treatment program (target residential treatment duration = 28 days) regardless of the research. The main question the study aims to answer is: 1) Is the delivery of adapted WET feasible and acceptable in short term residential SUD treatment for individuals with severe SUD?

Enrollment: 20 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Enrolled in residential SUD treatment at MTC
• Meet criteria for PTSD based on the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5
• Be 18 years of age or older
• Have sufficient memory of the index trauma to write about it
• Be English speaking.

Exclusion criteria

• Inability to give informed consent for any reason (e.g., cognitive impairment)
• Presence of acute psychosis or suicidality that would interfere with study participation
• planning to leave residential treatment before WEST could realistically be completed as determined by the investigator

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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20 participants in 1 patient group

TAU + Adapted Written Exposure Therapy (WET)

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in this condition receive everything included in TAU plus 5 individual sessions of WET delivered by a therapist. WET has been adapted for delivery in a residential SUD setting according to expert feedback. Sessions average less than 60 minutes and primarily involve writing about the traumatic experience that is guided by the therapist.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Written Exposure Therapy

Behavioral: Treatment as Usual