Tag: Therapy

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Regulating Together for Intellectual Disability: A Group Behavioral Therapy for for Emotion Dysregulation in Autism and Intellectual Disability

Conditions: Autism; Intellectual Disabilities With Other Behavioral Symptoms; Intellectual Disability

Interventions: Behavioral: Regulating Together group therapy

Sponsors: Children’s Mercy Hospital Kansas City; National Institutes of Health (NIH); National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS); Frontiers Clinical & Translational Science Institute

Recruiting
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<![CDATA[Patient selection, monitoring, and counseling on dissociation are critical to safe ketamine treatment.]]>
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Beyond empirically supported treatments: a new contextualized evidence framework for evidence based psychology

Over the past three decades, criteria for Empirically Supported Treatments (ESTs) have strengthened methodological rigor in psychotherapy research by prioritizing randomized controlled trials and systematic evidence synthesis. However, prevailing frameworks remain largely centered on efficacy under controlled conditions, offering limited operational guidance for integrating contextual factors that critically shape real-world effectiveness. We propose the Contextualized Empirically Supported Treatment Framework (C-EST), a normative and operational model that integrates certainty of evidence with structured appraisal of contextual domains essential for clinical decision-making, guideline development, and policy. Building on the Tolin criteria, GRADE, GRADE-CERQual, and the GRADE Evidence-to-Decision approach, C-EST embeds assessment of empirical certainty within five interconnected domains (1): empirical evidence (2), critical appraisal of the body of evidence, (3) functional and cultural impact, (4) contextual factors, including values, acceptability, feasibility, and equity, and (5) transparency and living evidence. Rather than relying on binary classifications (“supported” vs. “unsupported”), the framework enables nuanced judgments such as “supported with contextual concerns,” explicitly documenting boundaries of applicability. Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for depression and psychological interventions for postpartum depression as illustrative cases, we demonstrate how contextual appraisal refines, rather than weakens, established evidence classifications. By aligning internal validity with external, cultural, and equity relevance, C-EST transforms evidence evaluation from a static designation into a dynamic decision-support tool. Integrating contextual evidence is not an ethical add-on but a methodological imperative to ensure that psychological treatments are not only efficacious, but applicable, equitable, and responsive to diverse real-world mental health needs.
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<![CDATA[Explore how integrated psychotherapy—CBTp, family support, and humane alliance—reduces relapse and restores meaning beyond medication in schizophrenia.]]>
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Feasibility of Videoconference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Somatic Symptom Disorder: Single-Arm Pilot Trial

Background: Somatic symptom disorder (SSD) is a mental disorder marked by persistent somatic symptoms and maladaptive health-related thoughts, feelings, or behaviors. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to be effective in treating SSD, reducing patients’ somatic symptoms, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. However, challenges remain—including limited access to treatment. Videoconference-based cognitive behavioral therapy (vCBT) has emerged as a promising approach, offering flexible and tailored treatment while addressing the shortage of medical resources and potentially reducing patient dropout. Objective: This study examined the feasibility of vCBT for patients with SSD and explored secondary outcomes related to the physical component of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) as assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) physical component summary (PCS) score and other exploratory clinical outcomes. Methods: This single-arm pilot trial evaluated feasibility as the primary outcome assessed via recruitment rate, retention rate, session completion rate, and safety. Ten participants with SSD were enrolled, and all received 6 weekly 50-minute vCBT sessions. Secondary outcomes included physical HRQOL (SF-36 PCS) as the key secondary outcome, as well as mental HRQOL, depressive symptoms, somatic symptom severity, anxiety symptoms, health anxiety, pain, insomnia, and generic HRQOL. These outcomes were measured at the preintervention (week 0) and postintervention (week 6) time points and 1-month follow-up (week 10) and were analyzed using 2-sided paired tests. Results: All feasibility criteria were met, with a recruitment rate of 83.3% (10/12), a retention rate of 100% (10/10), a session completion rate of 100% (10/10), and no adverse events reported. The SF-36 PCS score improved by 4.99 points at the postintervention time point, representing a large within-group effect (Cohen =0.99, 95% CI 0.21‐1.74). Medium to large improvements were also observed in mental HRQOL, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, health anxiety, pain, insomnia, and generic HRQOL, and most of these improvements were observed at the 1-month follow-up. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that vCBT is a feasible and safe approach for SSD, with findings suggesting acceptability and preliminary evidence of effectiveness. Trial Registration: University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry UMIN000046138; https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000052664
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Shifting the Overton Window: enhancing therapeutic outcomes for Māori experiencing Ngā Māuiui kai (eating disorders) through the integration of traditional Māori and Western healing systems in Aotearoa New Zealand

Ngā māuiui kai (eating disorders) are understood within a Māori worldview as a manifestation of imbalance across hinengaro (mind), tinana (body), wairua (spirit) and whānau (family or support system). Prevailing Western treatment, which prioritise biopsychosocial interventions, do not address the cultural and spiritual determinants of health for Māori, creating a gap in culturally responsive care for Māori. This gap is rooted in and sustained by the enduring impacts of colonisation, which marginalised mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and disrupted traditional healing systems. This paper proposes that Specialist Supportive Clinical Management, a flexible, patient-centred psychotherapy, provides a unique point of alignment for the integration of Rongoā Māori, the traditional Māori healing system. Rongoā Māori encompasses modalities such as rongoā rākau (herbal remedies), mirimiri/romiromi (physical therapies), puku kōrero (talk therapy), and karakia (incantations/prayer) and offers a framework embedded within Māori knowledge systems. We argue that rongoā-informed Specialist Supportive Clinical Management, where puku kōrero aligns with Specialist Supportive Clinical Management patient-led dialogue, can synergistically support biopsychosocial goals while ensuring a holistic, culturally grounded approach. This conceptual analysis proposes a culturally adapted intervention to enhance therapeutic engagement, improve health outcomes, and honour the treatment aspirations of Māori by addressing the whole person within their cultural context.