Painhunting Therapy Versus Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Event-Related Depression
Starting soon · Not applicable
Conditions studied: Depression - Major Depressive Disorder
In brief
This randomized, active-comparator pilot trial will compare Painhunting Therapy with manualized Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in adults with event-related depressive symptoms. Participants will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive either Painhunting Therapy or CBT. The primary outcome is depressive symptom severity measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) at six weeks after randomization. Secondary outcomes include anxiety symptoms, event-related distress, functional impairment, treatment response and remission, treatment retention, and durability of outcomes at 10 to 12 weeks. The study will also assess treatment fidelity, therapeutic alliance, and selected potential moderators of treatment response. The trial uses a randomized, rater-blinded, parallel-group design with an adaptive sample-size approach.
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT07738146
- Run by
- Painhunting LLP
- People needed
- 60
- Starts
- 2026-09-01
- Expected to finish
- 2027-04-30
- Last updated by the study team
- 2026-07-31
Who can join
Age: any. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.
You may qualify if…
- Age 18 years or older.
- PHQ-9 score of 9 or greater at screening.
- At least one adverse life event within the prior 24 months, documented using the Life Events Threshold (LTE) instrument.
- Resident of Kazakhstan.
- Fluent in Russian.
- Capacity to provide written informed consent.
- Willing to attend at least six sessions within the protocol treatment schedule.
You may not qualify if…
- Active suicidal ideation requiring immediate referral, defined as PHQ-9 item 9 score of 3 or clinical judgment of imminent risk.
- Active psychosis or mania.
- Active substance use disorder meeting DSM criteria.
- Current psychotherapy with another provider.
- Initiation of pharmacotherapy within the prior four weeks.
- Pre-existing stable antidepressant monotherapy unchanged for eight weeks or longer is permitted.
- Inability to provide informed consent in Russian.
Where it is running
- Central Painhunting Office — Astana, Astana, Kazakhstan
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
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