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Can targeting guilt ease PTSD in veterans?

NCT ID NCT06296589

Symptom relief Sponsor: Veterans Medical Research Foundation Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

What the study statuses mean

This study's is highlighted.

Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now This study
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Aug 25, 2026 · Last updated Aug 26, 2026 · Updated 1 time

Summary

This trial tests whether a therapy focused on trauma-related guilt and shame (TrIGR) works as well as standard prolonged exposure therapy for veterans with PTSD. About 158 U.S. veterans who served since 2001 and have PTSD with guilt symptoms will receive one of the two talk therapies. The study compares how well each reduces PTSD symptoms, improves daily functioning, and lessens depression and guilt.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
Trauma-Informed Guilt Reduction Therapy (TrIGR), a behavioral therapy targeting trauma-related guilt and shame, compared with Prolonged Exposure Therapy
What this could lead to
If TrIGR works as well as standard exposure therapy, it could offer veterans a new way to ease PTSD symptoms by addressing guilt and shame directly.
What could go wrong
This is a mid-sized trial, and TrIGR may not prove as effective as the established treatment. Results depend on how well veterans engage with the therapy.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

About 158 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Dec 2024

Expected to finish

Aug 2027

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

18 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * U.S. Veterans age 18 or older who served in the military since the start of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom; OEF/OIF) * meets diagnostic criteria for PTSD; * a score of 2 or higher ("true" to "extremely true") on feeling trauma-related guilt much or all of the time or scoring 3 or higher ("very true" or "extremely true") on at least one guilt cognition factor (hindsight bias/responsibility, wrongdoing, or lack of justification) on the Trauma Related Guilt Inventory * not currently receiving trauma-focused treatment such as PE or CPT * willingness to attend psychotherapy and assessment sessions Exclusion Criteria: * current risk of suicidal/homicidal behavior that requires immediate intervention * current severe substance use disorder (in the past two months) based on DSM-5 criteria * current unmanaged psychosis or mania * life threatening or unstable medical illness * inability to read

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

post-traumatic stress disorder

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Stress disorders, post-traumatic

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

  1. The places running it

    4 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.

  2. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

    Open the record ↗

  3. A doctor treating you

    A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Little Rock Veterans Health Care System (LRVHCS)

    RECRUITING

    Little Rock, Arkansas, 72205, United States

  • Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System (SLVHCS)

    RECRUITING

    New Orleans, Louisiana, 70119, United States

  • VA San Diego

    RECRUITING

    San Diego, California, 92161, United States

  • William S. Middleton Memorial Hospital

    RECRUITING

    Madison, Wisconsin, 53705, United States

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