Clinical trial NCT03607630: Can Imagination Change Upsetting Memories of Trauma?
Official title: Can Imagination Change Upsetting Memories of Trauma?
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: PHASE1
PHASE2
Conditions: Psychosis
Keywords: Imagery rescripting
case series
ImRs
Psychosis
Lead sponsor: King's College London
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
First posted: 2018-07-31
Enrollment: 12
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: CROSSOVER
Intervention model description: Multiple Baseline Case Series - randomization for how long participants wait pre-intervention
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Research suggests that imagination is a powerful tool to change images inside our heads (e.g. memories) and make them less upsetting. It is thought that this occurs through changing the meaning attached to the memory (e.g. I am weak), therefore making it less upsetting to remember.

Research has also linked some people's experience of psychosis to distressing trauma memories. Despite this, little is known about whether using imagination to change memories is helpful for people with psychosis. This project will look at whether a talking therapy that uses imagination to change trauma memories helps people with psychosis. This project will specifically look at whether this therapy helps; change the meaning linked to memory, make the memory less upsetting and frequent, and increase sense of control over the memory.

This project will recruit six to twelve people with psychosis. Participants will be recruited from services within South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust's Psychosis Clinical Academic Group. Participants will first be interviewed about their posttraumatic stress difficulties, experiences of psychosis, mental health, and wellbeing. In this appointment, participants will also identify a traumatic memory to focus on during the talking therapy. Four questions about the trauma memory will be asked every day for the remainder of the project.

Participants will then wait between one to three weeks before they receive three therapy sessions. Comparing participants to themselves for different periods of time makes sure that their memories do not become less upsetting over time, without therapy.

After therapy, participants will continue daily measures for two weeks, with an appointment in the middle (i.e. one week post therapy). This appointment will include questions about posttraumatic stress difficulties, wellbeing and satisfaction with therapy. Participation will last between 6-8 weeks. Participants will be reimbursed for their time


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of a Schizophrenia-spectrum disorder or mood disorder with psychotic features
* Able to identify an intrusive traumatic memory occurring at least twice in the past week, as assessed by the Post Traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale.
* Sufficient English to participate in the project

Exclusion Criteria:

* Concurrent trauma-focused psychological therapy
* Primary diagnosis of learning disability, substance use or organic disorder
* Acute suicide risk
* Lack of capacity to provide informed consent

Primary outcomes:
measure: Daily Ratings measuring change in Index Memory throughout the project
timeFrame: Daily throughout the project, up to 8 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS; Haddock, McCarron, Tarrier, & Faragher, 1999)
timeFrame: First week at the initial assessment
measure: Change in Wellbeing through 'The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale' (WEMWBS; Tennant et al, 2007)
timeFrame: First week at Initial assessment and 1 week post therapy
measure: Change in PTSD symptoms through 'The Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale for DSM-5' (PDS-5; Foa et al., 2016)
timeFrame: First week at Initial assessment and 1 week post therapy
measure: Mini-Trauma and Life Events Checklist (mini-TALE; Hardy et al, in prep)
timeFrame: First week at Initial Assessment
measure: Semi-Structured interview (adapted from Hackmann, Clark ,& McManus's (2000) work on social phobia)
timeFrame: First Week at Initial Assessment
measure: Credibility and Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ; Borkovec & Nau, 1972)
timeFrame: First session of therapy, this may be at week 2, 3 or 4, depending upon baseline waitlist time
measure: Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8; Larsen et al, 1979)
timeFrame: One week Post intervention
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: London
country: United Kingdom
facility: South London and the Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
Study officials:
References: