Contemporary Clinical Trials - The Consciousness Library

Primary care brief mindfulness training for veterans with psychological distress: Protocol for a hybrid type I effectiveness-implementation randomized controlled trial.

Contemporary Clinical Trials August 1, 2026 D. Bergen-Cico, A. Ramon, Benjamin I. Felleman et al.

Psychological distress, encompassing PTSD, depression, and anxiety-is highly prevalent among Veterans receiving care in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) primary care settings, yet it frequently goes untreated or undertreated. Traditional psychotherapies and psychiatric medications are often misaligned with Veterans' preferences for self-reliance, low-stigma formats, and skill-based...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2026.108451

A randomized controlled trial comparing a mindfulness-based program with standard therapeutic follow-up during pregnancy: Effects on maternal mental health, infant outcomes, and mother-infant attachment.

Contemporary Clinical Trials July 8, 2026 Clara Beauvois, Andrea Soubelet

Pregnancy and childbirth represent a major transition into motherhood, marked by psychosocial changes that may increase women's vulnerability to mental health difficulties such as prenatal depression, anxiety, or PTSD, in addition to physical pain. These difficulties can negatively impact maternal well-being, the mother-infant relationship, and child development. Prenatal mindfulness-based...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2026.108401 Full text Anxiety Depression Mindfulness Attachment +3

Randomized trial of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) versus placebo to augment the effects of prolonged exposure therapy on fear extinction learning in post-traumatic stress disorder: Study rationale and protocol.

Contemporary Clinical Trials 2026 Christine A Rabinak, Paul E Kilgore, Mark A Lumley et al.

Prolonged exposure (PE) therapy is effective for PTSD, yet dropout and partial response remain concerning. Preclinical and human studies suggest Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) enhances fear extinction and recall through brain cannabinoid receptor activation in fear processing. Examine whether synthetic THC (dronabinol) augments PE effectiveness. Double-blind, placebo-controlled, trial with...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2025.108148 Full text Delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol THC Exposure therapy Extinction Memory +1

Addressing chronic pain and suicide risk using Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: Rationale, design and baseline characteristics.

Contemporary Clinical Trials November 1, 2025 Lisham Ashrafioun, Anna Stephens, Hugh F Crean et al.

Suicide risk and chronic pain are significant public health problems affecting veterans at a disproportionally high rate. There is a dearth of interventions directly targeting both chronic pain and suicide risk. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Pain and Suicide (MBCT-P/S) integrates components from MBCT-Pain and MBCT-Suicide, both of which demonstrate promising effects on their...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2025.108105 Full text Chronic pain Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy Suicide Veterans

Peer-supported mindfulness-based intervention for managing depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older adults: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Contemporary Clinical Trials June 20, 2025 Yun-Lin Wang, Yun-Han Wang, Dara Kiu Yi Leung et al. 1 citation

Depression in old age is a public health concern contributing to individual and societal burdens. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) have shown promise in reducing depressive symptoms. However, time commitments associated with these interventions could pose challenges to older adults. To address this, we propose a briefer mindfulness-based...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2025.107991 Full text Depressive symptoms Older adults Peer support Social worker +1

Effects of virtual reality mindfulness on cognition and well-being in ALS: A randomized trial protocol.

Contemporary Clinical Trials May 1, 2025 Juliette Faure-De Baets, Jeremy Besnard, Frédéric Banville et al. 3 citations

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease primarily affecting motor neurons but also leading to significant non-motor symptoms, including cognitive impairments, anxiety, depression, and behavioral changes, which severely impact quality of life. While mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have shown promise in alleviating psychological distress, their accessibility is...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2025.107876 Full text Cognitive impairment Mindfulness-based interventions mbi Psychological care Quality of life +1

Ketamine treatment in youth for fast reduction of suicidality and engagement in psychotherapy: A randomized placebo-controlled trial protocol.

Contemporary Clinical Trials February 1, 2025 Noreen A Reilly-Harrington, Tatiana Falcone, David A Jobes et al.

Suicide is a leading cause of death in young persons. While ketamine has demonstrated rapid anti-suicidal effects, its safety and efficacy in youth has not been fully investigated. The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS), a suicide-focused treatment shown to decrease suicidal ideation and symptom distress, has never been studied in combination with ketamine. This study...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2024.107777 Full text Adolescents Cams Psychotherapy Young adults +5

eMPower: An online Mind-body wellness Program for adults living with chronic health conditions: A three-armed randomized controlled trial protocol.

Contemporary Clinical Trials October 1, 2024 Emily K. Johnson, Kathleen Ismond, Ashley Hyde et al. 3 citations

Symptoms of depression and anxiety are prevalent among adults with chronic health conditions, contributing to reduced quality of life, morbidity, and mortality. Mind-body wellness interventions (i.e. psychology programming, mindful movement, breathwork, meditation) may impact mental health symptoms, with online delivery offering access and scalability. Whether online mind-body wellness...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2024.107642 Full text Anxiety Breathwork Depression Post-transplant +2

Ketamine-enhanced prolonged exposure therapy in veterans with PTSD: A randomized controlled trial protocol.

Contemporary Clinical Trials August 1, 2024 Paulo R Shiroma, Paul Thuras, Melissa A Polusny et al. 7 citations

The 2023 VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of PTSD recommends individual, manualized trauma-focused such as Prolonged Exposure (PE) over pharmacologic interventions for the primary treatment of PTSD. Unfortunately, clinical trials of trauma-based therapies in the military and veteran population showed that 30% to 50% of patients did not demonstrate clinically meaningful...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2024.107569 Full text Prolonged exposure PTSD-Treatment Veterans-mental-health Ketamine-therapy +2

Mindfulness-based intervention for depression and insulin resistance in adolescents: Protocol for BREATHE, a multisite, pilot and feasibility randomized controlled trial.

Contemporary Clinical Trials June 1, 2024 Natalia Sanchez, Michele Chen, Sally Ho et al. 3 citations

Elevated depression symptoms have been associated with higher insulin resistance in adolescents, and consequently, greater risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D). Mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) may be suited for adolescents at risk for T2D given its potential to decrease depression and improve stress-related behavior/physiology underpinning insulin resistance. To prepare for a future multisite...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2024.107522 Full text Depression Mindfulness Adolescents Insulin resistance +1

Psilocybin for alcohol use disorder: Rationale and design considerations for a randomized controlled trial.

Contemporary Clinical Trials December 1, 2022 Kelley C O'Donnell, Sarah E. Mennenga, Lindsey T. Owens et al. 24 citations

Several lines of evidence suggest that classic psychedelics (5-HT2A receptor agonists or partial agonists) such as psilocybin might facilitate behavior change in individuals with substance use disorders. We conducted a multi-site, double-blind, randomized controlled trial (RCT) to assess the effects of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in alcohol-dependent volunteers. In addition to a...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2022.106976 Full text Psychedelic therapy Alcohol Clinical trial design Addiction treatment +3

An integrated mindfulness meditation and acceptance and commitment therapy intervention for chronic pain: Rationale, design, and methodology of a pilot randomized controlled trial of Acting with Mindfulness for Pain (AMP).

Contemporary Clinical Trials August 1, 2022 Matthew S Herbert, Mara Tynan, Ariel J Lang et al.

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based psychosocial intervention for chronic pain; however, in its present form ACT produces modest improvements in function and is no more effective than cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), the current gold standard. This protocol paper describes the Acting with Mindfulness for Pain (AMP) protocol, which emphasizes and integrates formal...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2022.106809 Full text Meditation Mindfulness Chronic pain

ELEctroconvulsive therapy (ECT) vs. Ketamine in patients with Treatment-resistant Depression: The ELEKT-D study protocol.

Contemporary Clinical Trials February 1, 2019 S. Mathew, S. Wilkinson, Murat Altinay et al. 54 citations

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most common mental illness and the leading cause of disability worldwide. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most effective treatment for MDD and the gold-standard therapy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), yet it remains underutilized due to factors such as limited availability, stigma, and concerns about cognitive side effects. Ketamine has...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2018.12.009

Rationale, design, and implementation of a clinical trial of a mindfulness-based relapse prevention protocol for the treatment of women with comorbid post traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorder.

Contemporary Clinical Trials October 1, 2017 Caroline Vrana, Therese K Killeen, Victoria Brant et al.

Comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUD) commonly co-occur and is associated with a more complex clinical presentation with poorer clinical outcomes when compared with either disorder alone, and untreated PTSD can predict relapse to substance abuse. A number of integrated treatment approaches addressing symptoms of both PTSD and SUD concurrently...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2017.07.024 Full text PTSD Behavioral therapy development Community research Mindfulness-based relapse prevention +1

Design and rationale of a comparative effectiveness trial evaluating transcendental meditation against established therapies for PTSD.

Contemporary Clinical Trials September 1, 2014 Thomas Rutledge, Sanford Nidich, Robert H Schneider et al.

Although meditation therapies such as the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique are commonly used to assist with stress and stress-related diseases, there remains a lack of rigorous clinical trial research establishing the relative efficacy of these treatments overall and for populations with psychiatric illness. This study uses a comparative effectiveness design to assess the relative...

DOI: 10.1016/j.cct.2014.07.005 Full text Cognitive behavioral therapy Posttraumatic stress disorder Prolonged exposure Transcendental meditation

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