Feelings as medicine: could emotional awareness ease pain and opioid dependence?
NCT ID NCT06865560
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This pilot study tested whether an 8-week group therapy program delivered over Zoom could help adults with both chronic pain and opioid use disorder. The therapy, called Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), teaches people to understand and express their emotions as a way to reduce pain and related problems. Only 11 people took part, so the main goal was to see if the treatment was acceptable and feasible, not to prove it works.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET) - a group-based behavioral intervention delivered via telehealth
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a non-drug, talk-based approach to help people with chronic pain and opioid use disorder feel better and manage their conditions.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small pilot study with only 11 participants and no control group, so results may not apply to everyone. The therapy requires active participation and may not work for all.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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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
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11 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jun 2025
- Finished
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Dec 2025
- Lead sponsor
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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
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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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: * Be able to read, write and speak English * Have Internet access and audio-visual conferencing capability (e.g., Zoom meetings by phone or computer) in the home * Widespread pain and has opioid use disorder (OUD) Exclusion Criteria: * Diagnosis of autoimmune disease, spinal cord injury, cancer. * Currently receiving cognitive-behavioral therapy, EAET, or other psychological therapies for pain * Open litigation regarding chronic pain in the past 1 year, as assessed in preliminary study screening. * Inability to provide informed consent and complete study procedures (e.g., indications of suspected major cognitive impairment via observations of study staff during consenting) that would preclude comprehension or participation in study protocols. * Pregnant or breastfeeding * Any other diseases or conditions that would make a patient unsuitable for study participation as determined by the site principal investigators.
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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.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, United States
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