Assessing the efficacy of emotion-focused therapy in the treatment of depression, anxiety and related disorders

Emotion-Focused Therapy as a Transdiagnostic treatment for depression and anxiety and related disorders: An initial randomised control trial.

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN11430110

Enrollment

Registered

2019-01-07

Start date

2019-02-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2026-06-22

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

Conditions

Depression and anxiety and related disorders (such as obsessive-compulsive disorders and trauma/stressor related disorders). Mental and Behavioural Disorders

Interventions

Current intervention as of 11/07/2022: Emotion-Focused Therapy – Transdiagnostic (EFT-T) The EFT-T intervention will follow a recently developed model (Timulak, 2015

Timulak & Keogh, 2018) integrating EFT adaptations for various disorders (e.g., Elliott & Shahar, 2017

Greenberg & Watson, 2006

Paivio & Pascual-Leone, 2010

Timulak & McElvaney, 2017

Watson & Greenberg, 2017) using a unique transdiagnostic framework. The transdiagnostic model, conceptually based on a model of emotional transformation processes in psychotherapy (see Timulak, 2015 a

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Meet the criteria for depression, an anxiety disorder and/or related disorder (obsessive-compulsive disorders and trauma/stressor related disorders) as a principal diagnosis. 2. If taking psychotropic medication then must be stabilised on that medication for 6 weeks prior to commencing therapy. 2.1. Shows, with their physician’s approval, a willingness to maintain this stability in medication use during the period of therapy

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Concurrent psychological treatment 2. Suicide risk 3. Risk of harm to others 4. Substance abuse 5. Psychosis 6. Organic brain syndrome

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
To be measured at pre-therapy, post therapy (16 weeks; but also post last session in cases where the last session falls outside the range of 16 ± 2 weeks) and at 6-month follow up: 1. Anxiety severity will be measured using the Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS; Norman, Cissell, Means-Christensen, Stein, 2006). 2. Depression severity will be measured using the Overall Depression Severity and Impairment Scale (ODSIS; Bentley, Gallagher, Carl, & Barlow, 2014). 3. Psychological distress will be measured using the CORE-OM will also be used by all participants pre-, post, and at 6-month follow-up.	—

Measure

Time frame

To be measured at pre-therapy, post therapy (16 weeks; but also post last session in cases where the last session falls outside the range of 16 ± 2 weeks) and at 6-month follow up: 1. Anxiety severity will be measured using the Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS; Norman, Cissell, Means-Christensen, Stein, 2006). 2. Depression severity will be measured using the Overall Depression Severity and Impairment Scale (ODSIS; Bentley, Gallagher, Carl, & Barlow, 2014). 3. Psychological distress will be measured using the CORE-OM will also be used by all participants pre-, post, and at 6-month follow-up.

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Secondary

Measure	Time frame
1. Each participant will also be asked to complete at pre-therapy, post therapy (16 weeks; but also post last session in cases where the last session falls outside the range of 16 ± 2 weeks) and at 6-month follow up, at least one of the following disorder specific measures, as determined by the principal diagnosis assessed at pre-therapy. 1.1. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9; Kroenke et al., 2001). 1.2. The Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006). 1.3. Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS; Liebowitz, 1987). 1.4. The Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS; Shear et al., 1997). 1.5. The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale – Self-Report version (YBOCS-SR; Baer et al., 1993). 1.6. The Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist – Civilian Version (PCL-C; Blanchard, Jones-Alexander, Buckley, & Forneris, 1996). 2. The following measures will be administered during the pre-therapy assessment, with those measures on which a client scores =8 thereafter administered prior to each session, post-therapy and at follow-up: 2.1. The Overall Shame Severity and Impairment Scale (OSSIS). 2.2. The Overall Loneliness Severity and Impairment Scale (OLSIS). 2.3. The Overall Fear Severity and Impairment Scale (OFSIS). 3. The changes a participant has noticed since treatment began will be measured post-treatment using the Client Change Interview (CCI; Elliott et al., 2001).	—

Measure

Time frame

1. Each participant will also be asked to complete at pre-therapy, post therapy (16 weeks; but also post last session in cases where the last session falls outside the range of 16 ± 2 weeks) and at 6-month follow up, at least one of the following disorder specific measures, as determined by the principal diagnosis assessed at pre-therapy. 1.1. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9; Kroenke et al., 2001). 1.2. The Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006). 1.3. Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS; Liebowitz, 1987). 1.4. The Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS; Shear et al., 1997). 1.5. The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale – Self-Report version (YBOCS-SR; Baer et al., 1993). 1.6. The Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist – Civilian Version (PCL-C; Blanchard, Jones-Alexander, Buckley, & Forneris, 1996). 2. The following measures will be administered during the pre-therapy assessment, with those measures on which a client scores =8 thereafter administered prior to each session, post-therapy and at follow-up: 2.1. The Overall Shame Severity and Impairment Scale (OSSIS). 2.2. The Overall Loneliness Severity and Impairment Scale (OLSIS). 2.3. The Overall Fear Severity and Impairment Scale (OFSIS). 3. The changes a participant has noticed since treatment began will be measured post-treatment using the Client Change Interview (CCI; Elliott et al., 2001).

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Countries

Ireland, United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Jun 27, 2026