Contemporary clinical trials communications

Efficacy of Cognitively-based compassion training for Veterans with chronic pain with psychological Comorbidity: Protocol for a randomized clinical trial.

Contemporary clinical trials communications June 1, 2026 Anne Malaktaris, Niloofar Afari, Pollyanna Casmar et al.

Chronic pain with psychological comorbidity, especially posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or depression, is a prevalent and costly problem, especially among Veterans. Compassion meditation (CM) is a meditative practice that focuses on developing attentional regulation and the intention to assuage suffering. CM-based approaches show promise in ameliorating physical and mental health...

DOI: 10.1016/j.conctc.2026.101646 Full text Depression Chronic pain Compassion meditation Posttraumatic stress disorder +1

Phase 1 clinical trial on Orgasmic Meditation (OM): Assessing safety and feasibility as a meditation practice for individuals with PTSD.

Contemporary clinical trials communications June 1, 2025 Daniel Kriegman, Rachel Pelletier, Caroline Griggs et al.

We measured the safety and efficacy of a treatment protocol that includes Orgasmic Meditation (OM), a structured attention training practice conducted between two people who follow a predefined set of detailed instructions. The practice involves one person gently stroking the clitoris of the other person for 15 minutes while both place their attention on the point of contact and notice what...

DOI: 10.1016/j.conctc.2025.101451 Full text PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder Mindfulness Traumatized populations +10

The METEMP protocol: Massed exposure therapy enhanced with MDMA for PTSD.

Contemporary clinical trials communications February 1, 2025 Jessica L Maples-Keller, Boadie W Dunlop, Barbara O Rothbaum 5 citations

This article describes the rationale and the specific methods for an open label pilot trial of 100 mg MDMA in combination with massed exposure therapy for PTSD, a treatment which involves daily exposure therapy sessions for two weeks which has found to be effective. We review the need for novel PTSD treatments and the existing research on MDMA-assisted therapy, and then describe the rationale...

DOI: 10.1016/j.conctc.2024.101400 Full text MDMA Psychedelic therapy Clinical trial Exposure therapy +4

Design and methodology of the first open-label trial of MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorder: Considerations for a randomized controlled trial.

Contemporary clinical trials communications October 1, 2024 Erica Eaton, Christy Capone, Brian J Gully et al. 2 citations

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) commonly co-occur and are associated with more severe symptomatology than either disorder alone, increased risk of suicide, and poorer response to existing treatments. A promising therapeutic intervention is the integration of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and psychotherapy. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)...

DOI: 10.1016/j.conctc.2024.101333 Full text Alcohol use disorder MDMA Posttraumatic stress disorder Psychedelic assisted therapy +7

MDMA-assisted brief cognitive behavioral conjoint therapy for PTSD: Study protocol for a pilot study.

Contemporary clinical trials communications August 1, 2024 Leslie A. Morland, Dimitri Perivoliotis, Tamara R Wachsman et al. 4 citations

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) impacts both individual and relational functioning. Veteran couples are at increased risk of relationship distress due to military stressors such as deployment, family reintegration, and traumatic stress. Although both Cognitive-Behavioral Conjoint Therapy (CBCT) and its brief version (bCBCT) consistently have large effects on reducing PTSD symptoms, these...

DOI: 10.1016/j.conctc.2024.101314 Full text MDMA Intimate relationships PTSD Treatment Couples therapy +3

Nitrous oxide as a putative novel dual-mechanism treatment for bipolar depression: Proof-of-concept study design and methodology.

Contemporary clinical trials communications September 1, 2020 Mikaela K Dimick, Danielle Omrin, Bradley J MacIntosh et al.

Depressive symptoms predominate in the course of bipolar disorder (BD) and there is an urgent need to evaluate novel application of repurposed compounds that act on pre-specified treatment targets. Several lines of reasoning suggest that nitrous oxide (N2O) is an ideal medication to study as a potential treatment and as a strategy to identify the underlying pathophysiology of bipolar...

DOI: 10.1016/j.conctc.2020.100600 Full text Bipolar depression Cerebral blood flow Nitrous oxide Novel therapeutics

Bayesian adaptive randomization trial of intravenous ketamine for veterans with late-life, treatment-resistant depression.

Contemporary clinical trials communications December 1, 2019 Brittany O'Brien, Charles E. Green, Rayan K. Al Jurdi et al. 10 citations

More than eleven million U.S. Veterans are at least 65 years of age, an age group of which almost 20% suffers from clinically significant depressive symptoms. Available pharmacological treatments are suboptimal for patients, including veterans, with late-life depression. Ketamine has emerged as a potentially promising rapid-acting therapy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). However, few...

DOI: 10.1016/j.conctc.2019.100432 Full text Ketamine Treatment-resistant depression Adaptive design Bayesian trial design +2

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