Think positive: simple mental rehearsal may supercharge anxiety treatment
NCT ID NCT06564402
First seen Jun 25, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tests whether adding a positive mental rehearsal after exposure therapy helps people with social anxiety feel better faster. Forty participants with high social anxiety will complete a one-session exposure exercise, then either standard or positive mental rehearsal. Researchers will measure anxiety symptoms one week later to see if the positive rehearsal group improves more.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Positive mental rehearsal (a guided imagination exercise after exposure therapy)
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a simple, low-cost way to make exposure therapy more effective for social anxiety.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very small, early-stage study with only 40 participants and a single session. The results may not apply to real-world therapy or last long-term.
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 40 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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May 2024
- Expected to finish
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Mar 2026
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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Accepted
You do not need to have the condition being studied to take part.
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: * Elevated score on Social Interactions Anxiety Scale (SIAS) \> 26 Exclusion Criteria: * Current psychotherapeutic/psychiatric treatment * Plans to start psychotherapeutic/psychiatric treatment in upcoming weeks * Current suicidal intent * Severe cardiovascular, respiratory or neurological diseases
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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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Germany Philipps University
RECRUITINGMarburg, 35037, Germany
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- What makes therapy work? study digs into the 'How' of treating anxious and depressed kids
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- CBD may help college students overcome social anxiety, new study suggests
- Brain stimulation may supercharge therapy for social anxiety