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Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral to Hypnotherapeutic Treatment of Depression

Efficacy of Activation-focussed Cognitive Treatment of Depression (ACDT) to Hypnotherapeutic Treatment of Depression (HDT) in Mild to Moderate Major Depression

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02375308
Enrollment
153
Registered
2015-03-02
Start date
2015-04-30
Completion date
2018-06-28
Last updated
2018-09-25

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

Conditions

Major Depressive Disorder

Keywords

Hypnotherapy; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Efficacy

Brief summary

The purpose of the study is to compare the efficacy of an Hypnotherapeutic Treatment of Depression to Cognitive Behavioral Treatment of Depression in patients with mild to moderate Major Depressive Episodes.

Detailed description

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is considered to be an effective psychological treatment of mild to moderate Major Depressive Episodes. Effective treatments, however, show a reduction of depressive symptoms only up to 50 % (Luty et al., 2007) which is one reason for the modification of the well-established CBT in the last years. Following the 'third wave' approaches of CBT, e.g. Emotion-Focussed Therapy or Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, techniques like meditation or the use of systemic or Gestalt techniques within CBT has been applied. Within this context, Hypnotherapy-based strategies can also show an improvement of the current state of the art in depression psychotherapy. However, only few studies conducted randomised controlled trials to study the efficacy of hypnosis for depression as e.g. the comparison of cognitive hypnotherapy to CBT-alone (e.g. Alladin and Alibhai, 2007). With the present study, the efficacy of the Hypnotherapeutic Treatment of Depression (HDT) will be compared to the CBT-based Activation-focussed Cognitive Treatment of Depression (ACDT). Both treatments are individually administered and includes 20 sessions. We expect HDT not being inferior to ACDT in the reduction of depressive symptoms after six months of treatment.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALHDT

20 sessions, individual psychotherapy

BEHAVIORALACDT

20 sessions, individual psychotherapy

Sponsors

University Hospital Tuebingen
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 70 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) criteria for current mild to moderate Major Depressive Episode (MDE) * Informed consent * Fluent in German * Time for weekly therapy sessions * Stable antidepressant medication since three months

Exclusion criteria

* A history of lifetime bipolar disorder, psychotic symptoms * A diagnosis of a chronic Major Depressive Disorder (total duration of two years and more) * Fulfilling the DSM-5 criteria for current severe MDE or scores in MADRS \>/= 35 or QIDSC16 (Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology) \>/= 16 * Remission of current MDE since more than four weeks prior to inclusion assessment * Acute risk for suicide * Severe cognitive impairment (confirmed suspicion with Mini-Mental-State-Test \> 25) * A dominating primary diagnosis of another axis I disorder including anxiety disorders (e.g. Panic disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Anorexia nervosa, Borderline personality disorder), or any severe substance-related abuse or dependence disorder * A physical illness which would interfere with regular psychotherapy sessions * Outpatient psychotherapy during the last 12 months

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS)Change from Baseline in MADRS to end of treatment (20 sessions in 20-24 weeks)Clinician-rating of depressive symptoms, Primary outcome

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
QIDS: Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology - Clinician Rating (QIDS-C16)Change from Baseline to end of therapy and follow-ups (six and 12 months after end of treatment)Clinician-rating of depressive symptoms
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)Change from Baseline to end of therapy and follow-ups (six and 12 months after end of treatment)Self-report of depressive symptoms
Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS)six and 12 months after end of treatmentIncidence of response rate (symptom reduction \> 60%)

Countries

Germany

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 25, 2026