Eye movement therapy without painful recall shows promise for PTSD
NCT ID NCT07523360
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Sep 03, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This study tests a digital therapy that combines unconscious exposure to trauma-related images with bilateral eye movements to reduce intrusive memories in people with PTSD. About 123 participants who experience at least 5 intrusive memories per week will be randomly assigned to one of three groups. The goal is to see if this less distressing approach can lower the number of intrusive memories and improve PTSD symptoms.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- digital cognitive intervention with bilateral eye movements and trauma-related cue images
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a less distressing treatment option for PTSD that reduces intrusive memories without requiring explicit trauma recall.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-stage trial with no phase, small sample size, and the intervention is novel. It may not reduce symptoms significantly or could cause discomfort.
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 123 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
-
Jun 2026
- Expected to finish
-
Jul 2028
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 to 50 years
- 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 Hide 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: 1. Meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) Criterion A for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which requires exposure to an event involving serious injury or a threat to one's own or another person's physical well-being, either through direct experience or witnessing. 2. Exhibit symptoms from at least three of the five core PTSD symptom domains outlined in DSM-5: intrusive memories (Criterion B), persistent avoidance of trauma-related stimuli (Criterion C), negative alterations in cognitions and mood (Criterion D), alterations in arousal and reactivity (Criterion E), and symptoms lasting for at least one month (Criterion F). 3. Have a total score of 33 or higher on the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5). 4. Have internet access and access to a personal computer. 5. Have not taken part in a previous study of this intervention conducted by this research team. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Fewer than 5 intrusive memories during the baseline week (Week 0). 2. An intelligence quotient (IQ) score lower than 80. 3. A current diagnosis of schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a severe personality disorder judged to interfere with treatment adherence, or acute suicidal behavior. 4. Severe substance dependence.
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Intrusive memories of traumatic event(S) are added.
Genom att skicka in godkänner du våra Användarvillkor
Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
-
The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
-
The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
-
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
-
School of Psychology, Shaanxi Normal University
RECRUITINGXi'an, Shaanxi, 710062, China
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can reassuring cues help military personnel with PTSD read emotions?
- Can talk therapies quiet the trauma of violence?
- Could pausing psychiatric pills boost PTSD therapy?
- Can emotional patterns reveal the true nature of teen trauma?
- Beta-Blocker may rewrite traumatic memories in PTSD
- Zapping the Brain's fear hub: a new hope for PTSD?