Emotional Brain Training for Addiction Medicine Treatment - A Pilot Study

Conditions

• Alcohol Use Disorder
• Cannabis Use Disorder
• Opioid Use Disorder
• Sedative, Hypnotic, or Anxiolytic Use Disorders
• Stimulant Use Disorder
• Tobacco Use Disorder

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

18 Years - N/A

Healthy Volunteers

Not accepted

Interventions

• Emotional Brain Training — BEHAVIORAL
  Emotional Brain Training (EBT) is a structured, neuroscience-based behavioral intervention that focuses on rewiring the brain's stress-related circuits to promote emotional resilience, self-regulation, and lasting behavioral change. This behavioral intervention has not been implemented in addiction treatments in the past. Unlike traditional therapies that primarily target cognitive processes or symptom management, EBT directly addresses the physiological and emotional root causes of maladaptive behaviors by engaging the brain's natural neuroplasticity mechanisms. EBT integrates rapid emotional processing tools, peer-to-peer support, clinician-facilitated sessions, and mobile app-based self-care to systematically transition brain circuits from stress-reactive to stress-resilient states.
• Standard addiction counseling and medical therapy — OTHER
  Participants will receive standard counseling (including but not limited to cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, etc.), which does not include EBT, in addition to medications for addiction treatment (including but not limited to buprenorphine, naltrexone, bupropion, etc.).

Study Details

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine whether Emotional Brain Training (EBT), a behavioral modification method, can help manage stress and health problems related to addiction. EBT teaches skills to deactivate harmful circuits (automatic reactions) and activate healing circuits to quickly shift mood from negative to positive. Participants in the EBT group will receive focused, intensive instruction on using these skills to rewire unwanted brain circuits, with the aim of achieving lasting improvements in emotional health and quality of life. The study will assess whether EBT is an effective tool when added to standard of care (SOC), which includes medications for addiction treatment (MAT). Researchers will compare changes in stress, anxiety, and cravings after 8 weeks of EBT plus SOC versus SOC alone. Participants: * will either continue receiving standard treatments (SOC) at the Addiction Recovery Clinic (ARC) at SAC Health in San Bernardino * or receive both EBT and SOC at ARC * in the SOC group will continue monthly visits at ARC and weekly counseling * in the EBT plus SOC group will continue monthly visits and weekly counseling at ARC, along with weekly EBT group sessions by telephone * will complete online assessments at weeks 0, 4, and 8 Upon completion of the study, all participants will resume SOC

Key Dates

Start date

Aug 31, 2026

Status verified

Apr 2026

Primary completion

Jul 31, 2027

Completion

Aug 31, 2027

Study Design

Enrollment

54 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Arms

• Active Comparator: Standard of Care (SOC)
  Participants will receive SOC, which includes medications for addiction therapy (MAT) (including but not limited to buprenorphine, naltrexone, bupropion, etc.) weekly counseling, and monthly clinic visits with addiction specialists.
• Experimental: Emotional Brain Training (EBT) and Standard of Care (SOC)
  This group will receive all the components of SOC plus EBT counseling: A. The components below will be completed daily and is estimated to take 25 minutes: i. \[10 1-minute spiral ups (SU) - an EBT specific, app-directed methodology of emotional regulation\], plus; ii. 5 minutes via telephone for a group peer connection iii. 10 minutes online/phone app coursework/video B. Once a week: participants will participate in a 60 minute small-group telephone meeting for accountability and support C. Once a week: participants will participate in at least 3 30-minute Spiral Up (SU) groups/week to practice the skills. These are available online daily.

Primary Outcome Measure

Changes in Level of Stress at 8 weeks [ Time Frame: Change between baseline(time of study enrollment) and Study completion (8 weeks). ]

Central Contacts

• Brenda Boyle, DNP
  909-382-7100
  [email protected]
• Lori D Karan, MD
  650-270-5025
  [email protected]

Locations (1)

Find similar trials in San Bernardino, CA

Related Studies

• Local Participatory Systems Dynamics to Increase Reach of Evidence Based Addiction and Mental Health Care
  Enrolling By Invitation · Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research · Palo Alto, California
• A Study Comparing Oral Buprenorphine and Injectable Buprenorphine for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder
  PHASE4 · Recruiting · VA Office of Research and Development · Tuscaloosa, Alabama
• AAT for Alcohol Use Disorder in Veterans
  Recruiting · VA Office of Research and Development · San Diego, California
• A SMART Evaluation of an Adaptive Web-based AUD Treatment for Service Members and Their Partners
  Recruiting · Stanford University · Palo Alto, California