Therapy Expectation Optimisation (TEO) - A Randomised Controlled Trial on the Impact of Expectations in Psychotherapy

Therapy Expectation Optimisation (TEO) - A Randomised Controlled Trial on the Impact of Expectations in Psychotherapy - TEO study

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

DRKS

Registry ID

DRKS00037724

Enrollment

200

Registered

2026-03-04

Start date

2026-04-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2026-03-30

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

F10-F19 F20-F29 F30-F39 F40-F48 F50-F59 F60-F69

Interventions

Group 1: Intervention Group: Optimizing Treatment Expectation Information (OPTI) consultation and information brochure from the Federal Chamber of Psychotherapists in Germany (treatment as usual). Dur

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Minimum age of 18 years, Email account and internet-enabled device, Scheduled on a waiting list or just begun outpatient psychotherapy following a psychotherapeutic consultation (indication for psychotherapy due to the presence of at least one mental disorder in an outpatient setting), Informed consent to participate in the study and consent to data processing.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Currently ongoing outpatient psychotherapy with 3 or more sessions already completed, insufficient German language skills for the planned standardised assessments, insufficient cognitive abilities for the assessments (e.g. due to severe IQ impairment, neurological disease or intoxication, to be assessed in the screening interview), current suicidality (i.e. suicidal thoughts within the last week).

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Psychopathological distress assessed with the Global Severity Index of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; Franke, 2000) Assessment Points: t0 (baseline): Participants included in study according to inclusion criteria t1: post-intervention, ca. 14 days after t0 t2: 3 months after t1 t3 (primary endpoint): 9 months after t1 t4 (follow-up): 12 months after t1	—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Depressive symptoms assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI I-II; Hautzinger et al., 2006) Mental wellbeing assessed with the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWEBS; Tennant et al., 2007). Treatment expectations assessed with the Treatment Expectations Questionnaire (TEX-Q; Shedden-Mora et al., 2023) Previous treatment experiences, expectations and effects assessed with the Generic Rating Scale for Previous Treatment Experiences, Treatment Expectations, and Treatment Effects (GEEE; Rief et al., 2021)	—

Measure

Time frame

Depressive symptoms assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI I-II; Hautzinger et al., 2006) Mental wellbeing assessed with the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWEBS; Tennant et al., 2007). Treatment expectations assessed with the Treatment Expectations Questionnaire (TEX-Q; Shedden-Mora et al., 2023) Previous treatment experiences, expectations and effects assessed with the Generic Rating Scale for Previous Treatment Experiences, Treatment Expectations, and Treatment Effects (GEEE; Rief et al., 2021)

—

Countries

Germany

Contacts

Public ContactKatharina Elisabeth Renz

Helmut-Schmidt-Universität

renzk@hsu-hh.de+49 40 6541 2234

Outcome results

None listed

Source: DRKS (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Apr 4, 2026