NCT06776744

EMpower Parents: Effectiveness of EMDR Treatment for Parental PTSD Related to Their Child's Medical Condition.

EMpower Parents: Effectiveness of EMDR Treatment for Parental PTSD Related to Their Child's Medical Condition: a Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 60 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Academisch Medisch Centrum - Universiteit van Amsterdam (AMC-UvA) · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: —
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if short EMDR treatment offered in two modalities (face to face and remote) is effective in reducing PTSD symptoms and comorbid symptoms for parents of children with diverse chronic and acute medical conditions. The main question is: • Is short EMDR treatment effective in reducing PTSD symptoms in parents of children with chronic or acute medical conditions? Researchers will compare in person and remote EMDR treatment to a waiting list group to see if the treatment is effective. Participants in the intervention conditions will participate in four in person or remote EMDR sessions, each lasting 1.5 hours, spread across two half-days. Participants in the waiting list condition will receive this treatment after a period of 3 months.

Detailed description

Objective: The primary objective is to assess the effectiveness of a brief (two half-day) in person (EMDRip) and remote (EMDRr) EMDR therapy compared to control group in reducing posttraumatic stress symptoms in parents of children with a chronic or acute medical condition. The secondary objectives are to assess the effectiveness of brief EMDRip and EMDRr for parents of children with a severe chronic or acute medical condition 1) in reducing psychological comorbidity in parents (psychopathology in general: Depression, Anxiety, and Somatization, and parenting stress), 2) in reducing posttraumatic stress symptoms of their child with a chronic or acute medical condition, and 3) in improving relationship quality between the parent and spouse and between the parent and the child with a severe chronic or acute medical condition. 4) To evaluate the feasibility of EMDRip versus EMDRr.5) To describe the traumatic experiences and future worries (targets) the parents of children with a severe chronic or acute medical condition struggle with. Study design: This study will be a randomized controlled trial with three study arms: in person EMDR (EMDRip), remote EMDR (EMDRr), waiting list (Control). Intervention: The EMDR intervention in this study consists of four in person or remote EMDR sessions, each lasting 1.5 hours, spread across two half-days, approximately one week will elapse between the two treatment days. EMDR treatment will be offered by licensed therapists at Amsterdam UMC.

Conditions

• All Acute Pediatric Conditions
• All Chronic Pediatric Conditions

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)	Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) treatment. EMDR is one of the first-choice evidence based treatments for PTSD. During an EMDR session, the traumatic memory is brought to the surface including associated images, thoughts, feelings and body sensations, while simultaneously focusing on an external distracting stimulus (e.g., lateral eye movements).

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-01-01
• Primary completion: 2026-04-01
• Completion: 2026-04-01
• First posted: 2025-01-15
• Last updated: 2025-01-15