Could a 5-Day crash course in therapy beat months of weekly sessions for PTSD?
NCT ID NCT05934175
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether a 5-day intensive version of prolonged exposure therapy can treat PTSD as effectively as the standard 15-week approach. 140 adults with PTSD will be randomly assigned to either the intensive format or weekly sessions. Researchers will also look at cost-effectiveness and how therapists experience the intensive format.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- prolonged exposure therapy (behavioral intervention)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could offer a faster, more accessible treatment option for PTSD that works as well as or better than standard weekly therapy.
- What could go wrong
- This is a relatively small trial (140 participants) and results may not apply to all PTSD patients. The intensive format may be too demanding for some, and long-term benefits are still unknown.
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
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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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About 140 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Sep 2023
- Expected to finish
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Jun 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- 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.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * 18 years of age or above, * Primary PTSD diagnosis * Fluent in Swedish * Sign informed consent * Able to attend either I-PE or 15 weekly sessions of PE Exclusion Criteria: * Initiation or adjustment of any psychotropic medication within the last 4 weeks prior to commencement of treatment * Serious mental health symptoms, such as mania, psychosis, alcohol, or substance use disorders or current suicide risk warranting immediate clinical attention * Ongoing evidence-based trauma-focused psychological treatment * Ongoing trauma-related threat (e.g. living with a violent spouse)
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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.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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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
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Traumaprogrammet, Psykiatri Sydväst
RECRUITINGStockholm, Sweden
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- Can talk therapies quiet the trauma of violence?