Neuroscience of Psychotherapy for Depression

Part of paid clinical trials in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Sponsor
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Study ID
NCT06696001
Status
Recruiting
Apply to this trial

Conditions

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
18 Years - 30 Years
Healthy Volunteers
Not accepted

Interventions

  • Psychoeducation — BEHAVIORAL
    For the psychoeducation session, the focus is for the therapist to engage with the client regarding mental health broadly without a targeted effort to reinforce therapeutic alliance or to offer individualized guidance or techniques. The session will provide educational information on depression, depression symptoms and known causes, and strategies to reduce depression symptoms. The content will be delivered in a fashion to avoid individualization and psychotherapeutic exchange. The elements will focus on components of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), differentiating between thoughts and feelings, common cognitive shortcuts, and the connection between behavior and emotion.
  • Behavioral Activation — BEHAVIORAL
    Behavioral Activation (BA) is a psychotherapy treatment modality used for depression and focuses on replacing maladaptive coping mechanism that reinforce depressive symptoms with adaptive coping mechanisms to increase exposure to positive reinforcement. The treatment will consist of the following elements: Introduction to establish concept of positive reinforcement and build rapport, identification of client-centered values, individualized values-based activity planning and scheduling, and developing adaptive coping strategies for the future.

Study Details

The goal of this study is to learn the extent to which client-therapist brain activity may synchronize during a psychosocial intervention for depression symptoms. The study will compare behavioral activation, a client-centered type of cognitive-behavioral therapy, to psychoeducation which delivers information on strategies to recover from depression symptoms. Participants will answer questions about their mental and physical health, attend one psychosocial intervention session receiving either Behavioral Activation or Psychoeducation with simultaneous brain activity measurement and complete follow up surveys two weeks and one month following the intervention.

Key Dates

Start date
Apr 11, 2025
Status verified
Dec 2025
Primary completion
Jun 1, 2026
Completion
Jun 30, 2026

Study Design

Enrollment
45 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT

Arms

  • Active Comparator: Psychoeducation
    Psychoeducation will be used in this study as a control condition. The 60 minute session will be structured to provide general educational information on depression and evidence-based strategies to reduce symptoms. The information will be presented in generic format and will not be tailored to be client-specific.
  • Experimental: Behavioral Activation
    Behavioral Activation (BA) is a psychotherapy modality that can be used to treat depression. The 60 minute session of BA is designed to actively engage with the client in creating personalized goals and ways in which maladaptive coping mechanisms maintaining depression can be addressed and replaced with increased exposure to positive reinforcement.

Primary Outcome Measure

Inter-brain phase synchronization in Alpha frequency band via Phase Locking Value [ Time Frame: During the interventional session, approximately 60 minutes ]

Central Contacts

Locations (1)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Carolina Center for NeurostimulationChapel HillNorth Carolina27516
Flavio Frohlich, PhD
[email protected]
919-966-4584
Zachary Stewart
[email protected]

Find similar trials in Chapel Hill, NC

By condition
Depression
By specialty
PsychiatryMental healthBehavioral health
By research site
Carolina Center for Neurostimulation· Chapel Hill, NC

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