Now Recruiting Patients for a Treatment Research Study
Research Study of Individualized Assessment of the Change Process in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Are you interested in participating in a research study of a new approach to developing a personalized understanding of your difficulties, as a route to devising and monitoring progress of an individualized cognitive behavioral treatment plan for you?
Ms. Hannah Bosley, M.A., graduate student in the Clinical Science Program in the Psychology Department at the University of California, Berkeley, is conducting this study under the supervision of Jacqueline B. Persons, Ph.D., and Aaron Fisher, Ph.D., director of the Idiographic Dynamics Laboratory at UC Berkeley. The study has been reviewed and approved by the UC Berkeley Committee for Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS).
Participation in the study involves completing brief assessments on your smart phone four times a day for one month prior to receiving treatment and during the course of your treatment, and participating in a formal diagnostic assessment session two weeks before your treatment begins. We will use the data you provide to help us understand the unique factors that cause and maintain your mood, anxiety, and behavior difficulties. We will use the data to create a statistical model that we will share with you and that will help us design an individualized treatment plan for you. Treatment will be provided by Ms. Bosley as part of her clinical training at UC Berkeley and will be closely supervised by Dr. Persons. Ms. Bosley has over seven years of clinical research experience, and four years of experience conducting cognitive-behavioral treatment for mood, anxiety, and behavioral treatment for mood, anxiety, and behavioral difficulties. The cost of the treatment will be $120 per therapy session. Video recordings of the therapy will be made as part of the supervision process; they will not be used in the research. As your therapy proceeds, you will continue to provide data on your smart phone that will be used to monitor your progress and refine the treatment plan. You will be compensated $10/week to complete the four-times daily smartphone assessments both before and during treatment. Essentially, this project entails a more comprehensive version of the usual assessment and treatment provided in the private practice of Dr. Persons, which already involves extensive collection of data for assessment purposes, including monitoring progress during treatment.
At any point in time, you may elect to stop the research portion of the procedures and choose instead to complete only the standard procedures of treatment. If you discontinue participation in the research, you may still seek treatment in Dr. Persons’ practice.
To be eligible for this research study, you must:
- be at least 18 years old;
- want to begin cognitive behavioral therapy to get help for problems like anxiety, depression, worry, rumination, panic, obsessive compulsive disorder, or similar difficulties;
- have access to a web-enabled smart phone;
- be willing to answer brief survey questions on your phone four times per day (about once every four hours);
- be willing to complete these surveys for about four weeks before you begin treatment;
- be willing to complete a formal diagnostic assessment interview during the month prior to beginning treatment;
- be willing to complete the surveys throughout treatment;
- be willing to receive cognitive behavioral therapy from Ms. Bosley, who is a trainee working under the direct supervision of Dr. Persons. <click here> to read more information about Ms. Bosley’s clinical training and experience.
- agree to video-recording of your therapy sessions as a part of the clinical supervision process (the video material will not be used in the research).
If you have questions about the study or are interested in participating in the study, please contact Dr. Persons by telephone at 510-662-8405 or at persons@oaklandcbt.com.
NOTE: Individuals who choose not to participate in the present research may still be eligible for services through Dr. Persons’ clinical practice. The difference between standard services and the research is that the research involves a one-month data collection period prior to therapy (answering four surveys per day using a smartphone) whereas the standard treatment does not. The research also involves completion of the same surveys, four times per day, during the course of treatment. Those who select not to participate in the research will not be penalized or marginalized in their care in any way. They will receive the same treatment and care that they would have otherwise received if the research study was not taking place.