Clinical trial NCT06908343: Psychotherapy Expectations and Distress Among Mental Health Patients and Their Therapists.
Official title: The Associations Between Psychotherapy Expectations and Distress Among Adults Hospitalized in Psychiatric Departments or Treated in the Ambulatory/Community Clinics and Their Therapists.
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Conditions: Expectancy
Distress, Psychological
Keywords: process expectations
distress
hospitalized patients
psychotherapy
Lead sponsor: Shalvata Mental Health Center
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2025-04-03
Enrollment: 100
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: ECOLOGIC_OR_COMMUNITY
Time perspective: OTHER
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Sample will be comprised of adults hospitalized in psychiatric departments or treated in the ambulatory/community clinics of Shalvata MHC and their therapists.

Brief summary: Patients will be recruited from the units of Shalvata MHC: closed and open hospitalization unit, and ambulatory units of Shalvata MHC community clinic. Their therapists will be recruited as well. There will be 4 timepoints measurement: baseline, second week, fourth week and after eight weeks (or discharge). Patients will be addressed through the therapeutic staff and the research team will contact them after a conceptually agreement to participate. A member of the research staff will schedule a meeting explaining the research thoroughly and ask the patient/therapist to sign an informed consent. After signing an informed consent, patients will complete several questionnaires at several time points, whereas their therapists will complete measures as well. All scales will be filled using the Qualtrics platform. In hospitalization unit questionnaires will be filled with the aid of the research coordinator, and in the facilities of Shalvata MHC, in face-to-face interaction. During the face-to-face interaction, in case the patient will report suicidal thoughts or plan to a member of the research staff, the therapeutic staff will be notified immediately. patients at community clinics will fill the first measurement in face-to-face interaction and the rest of the questionnaires independently recieveg a link to their mobile phone.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Hebrew mother tongue speakers
* Being treated at Shalvata MHC.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Inability to read or comprehend Hebrew due to any reason.
* Agitative patients
* Acute suicidal patients
* Patients in unstable psychotic state

Primary outcomes:
measure: Symptom Checklist (SCL-10R)
timeFrame: From enrollment, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 8 weeks after enrolment
measure: The Expectations of Active Processes in Psychotherapy Scale (EAPPS)
timeFrame: At enrollment and 8 weeks after enrolment
measure: Outcome expectations (an item from Credibility/Expectancy Questionnaire (CEQ)
timeFrame: From enrollment, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 8 weeks after enrollment
measure: The Clinical Global Impressions Scale (CGI).
timeFrame: From enrollment, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 8 weeks after enrollment
Secondary outcomes:
measure: The Multitheoretical List of Therapeutic Interventions (MULTI).
timeFrame: 2 weeks and 4 weeks after enrollment
measure: The Stanford Expectations of Treatment Scale (SETS)
timeFrame: At enrollment and 6 weeks after enrollment
measure: Existential Isolation Scale (EIS)
timeFrame: At enrollment and 8 weeks after enrollment
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Israel
country: Israel
facility: Shalvata Mental Health Center
Study officials:
References:
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citation: Pinel, E. C., Long, A. E., Murdoch, E. Q., & Helm, P. (2017). A prisoner of one's own mind: Identifying and understanding existential isolation. Personality and Individual Differences, 105, 54-63.
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citation: Tzur Bitan D, Ben David T, Moshe-Cohen R, Kivity Y. Patient-therapist congruence and incongruence of process expectations during psychotherapy. Psychotherapy (Chic). 2021 Dec;58(4):493-498. doi: 10.1037/pst0000410.
citation: Constantino MJ, Boswell JF, Coyne AE, Swales TP, Kraus DR. Effect of Matching Therapists to Patients vs Assignment as Usual on Adult Psychotherapy Outcomes: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Psychiatry. 2021 Sep 1;78(9):960-969. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.1221.
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