Exposing Narrative Exposure Therapy

University of Nottingham

Status: Completed

Conditions: Traumatic Stress Disorder

Treatments: Other: Experimental Narrative Exposure Therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05383846

21041

Details and patient eligibility

About

The main purpose of the study is to further develop an existing measure of autobiographical memory integration (ABMI) to investigate and clarify the ABMI change process specific to narrative exposure therapy (NET).

Full description

Traumas are events which include witnessing or being at the risk of, death, violence, and sexual violation. Experiencing trauma can lead to psychological and physiological changes, and an individual's mental health can deteriorate to the point where a diagnosis of Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is given; 10-20% of people develop enduring symptoms, with effective treatment being a challenge.

While being exposed to trauma does not lead to PTSD, there is a dose-response relationship between the severity and duration of traumatic events and developing PTSD, suggesting that more complex forms of PTSD can develop if a person is subjected to multiple traumatic events. Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) occurs when a person is subjected to multiple prolonged traumas of an interpersonal nature, where escape is impossible. Different treatment approaches are needed for PTSD and CPTSD.

One therapy which has received support for treating CPTSD is Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET). NET is a National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended short-term manualised therapy. NET appears to be a well-tolerated treatment and has consistently low attrition rates when compared to other therapies. There is also emerging evidence of NET's effectiveness in the general population. The central aim of NET treatment is re-integration of contextual information and the traumatic memory into an autobiographical lifeline; this occurs through narrating the memory and involves prolonged exposure and habituation, and integration of the trauma memory into an autobiographical context. Despite NET's successes, its mechanisms of change have not been evidenced empirically, especially the element of contextualisation and integration of trauma into autobiographical memory (ABM). Four participants will be recruited with the support of local staff working in mental health services across Nottinghamshire. Participants will receive between twelve to fourteen weekly interventions sessions. Changes will be explored through process and outcome measures administered before, during, and after the intervention and interviews will be conducted at the end to gather participants experiences.

The study is supported by The University of Nottingham. Potential benefits include providing participants with an intervention to resolve their trauma and also to provide a theoretical contribution by either proving or refuting the process measures posted by NET.

Enrollment: 4 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Between the ages of 18-65
2. Are able to give fully informed consent
3. Experiencing traumatic stress resulting from multiple traumatic events (no formal diagnosis of PTSD/CPTSD is needed)
4. Are able to communicate verbally and are fluent in English
5. Have no on-going current trauma focused therapy
6. Appropriate and ready for NET
7. Referred to either Step 4 Psychological Services or Centre for Trauma

Exclusion criteria

1. Under the age of 18.
2. Above the age of 65.
3. Currently experiencing an episode of psychosis.
4. Have an intellectual disability.
5. Are actively suicidal.
6. Are non-fluent in English.
7. Are currently abusing substances.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Sequential Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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4 participants in 1 patient group

Experimental: Narrative Exposure Therapy

Experimental group

Description:

This is a multiple baseline single case series design which focuses on assessing the posited exposure and autobiographical memory integration components of Narrative Exposure Therapy; no comparator will be included.

Treatment:

Other: Experimental Narrative Exposure Therapy