NCT07108608

Adaptation of Written Exposure Therapy in Substance Treatment

Treating OUD/PTSD in Residential Care: Written Exposure in Substance Treatment (WEST).

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 20 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Potomac Health Foundations · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this pilot non-randomized, uncontrolled clinical trial is to test the feasibility and efficacy of written exposure therapy (WET) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as adapted for use within the context of residential substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. All participants meet criteria for PTSD and are in a short term residential SUD treatment program (target residential treatment duration = 28 days) regardless of the research. The main question the study aims to answer is: 1) Is the delivery of adapted WET feasible and acceptable in short term residential SUD treatment for individuals with severe SUD?

Conditions

• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
• Substance Use Disorders

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Written Exposure Therapy	Written Exposure Therapy is a brief, evidenced based intervention for PTSD. WET is generally delivered individually across 5 sessions in which the therapist guides the patient through writing exercises. Across exposure sessions, participants experience habituation so that their symptoms decrease by the end of treatment. WET has an established evidence base in general outpatient psychotherapy for PTSD, but has not been adapted or tested in residential SUD treatment settings. Further, the investigators have adapted WET for this setting based on stakeholder and expert feedback.
BEHAVIORAL	Treatment as Usual	Treatment as Usual will include a variety of standard care services offered in short term residential treatment. For example, participants receiving TAU will participate in individual case management/general counseling sessions focused on substance use disorder and its consequences, group based psychoeducation sessions, group based counseling sessions (e.g., relapse prevention planning), individual services with a medical provider and pharmacotherapy (e.g., for withdrawal, relapse prevention, or co-occurring conditions)

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-08-25
• Primary completion: 2026-04-30
• Completion: 2026-09-30
• First posted: 2025-08-07
• Last updated: 2025-08-07

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States