Can faster PTSD therapy keep veterans in treatment?
NCT ID NCT06335589
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This study tested whether giving PTSD therapy several times a week (massed) helps veterans stay in treatment better than once-a-week sessions. Thirty veterans with PTSD were randomly assigned to either massed or weekly therapy. Researchers measured how many completed treatment and how satisfied they were.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- massed or weekly evidence-based psychotherapy (CPT or PE)
- What this could lead to
- If massed therapy works better, it could help more veterans finish PTSD treatment and get better faster.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small pilot study with only 30 veterans, so results may not apply to everyone. It tests feasibility, not effectiveness.
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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30 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jun 2024
- Finished
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Sep 2025
- Lead sponsor
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A government agency
The lead sponsor is a US federal agency other than the NIH.
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: * Veterans aged 18 years or older; * meets criteria for current PTSD; * willingness to be randomized to either condition (e.g., EBP-Massed or EBP-TAU); * decision to receive CPT or PE in a treatment planning session with a Durham Trauma Recovery Program clinic provider; * ability to provide informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * High acute suicide risk; * active manic symptoms that would likely interfere with treatment; * active psychotic symptoms that would likely interfere with treatment; * currently in a concurrent trauma-focused evidence-based treatment for PTSD
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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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Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC
Durham, North Carolina, 27705-3875, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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