This is a prospective exploratory study using narrative therapy in group format, over 20 sessions, 2 hours per session, weekly, to determine whether this modality can provide any benefit to OCD symptoms, mood, sense of social connectedness, sense of identity, and/or quality of life in individuals living with treatment-resistant OCD. NOTE: an amendment is now in place so that the group can occur virtually given the COVID pandemic; Zoom will be used as our platform.
Many patients referred to the Thompson Centre at Sunnybrook have severe OCD, and have significant and disabling symptoms even after completing our treatment protocols, including our intensive and residential programs. These patients have already undergone traditional cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and exposure and response prevention (ERP), as well as pharmacotherapy. Patients voice distress at their poor quality of life and high symptom burden, and can feel hopeless, if they have exhausted numerous evidence-based treatment options without significant improvement. Narrative therapy is a unique approach, based on the premise that language reflects a social construction of reality. Individuals with severe mental illness hold within themselves life narratives that reinforce their painful beliefs about themselves, the world, and others. Evidence indicates that narrative therapy can help to create a more cohesive identity and a more flexible view of the self and the future. Our primary goal is to determine whether narrative therapy could improve OCD symptom burden and quality of life in a highly treatment-resistant population. Domains such as mood, identity, and interpersonal connectedness are secondary measures. The research questions are: could narrative therapy lead to symptomatic improvement in treatment-resistant OCD? And could narrative therapy improve the domains of mood, interpersonal connectedness, and/or identity in patients with treatment-resistant OCD?
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
14
Group psychotherapy
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
YBOCS Change
Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale
Time frame: Prior to start; at 5 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks, and 20 weeks; then 12 weeks post-treatment
BDI-II Change
Beck Depression Inventory
Time frame: Prior to start; at 5 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks, and 20 weeks; then 12 weeks post-treatment
QOLS Change
Quality Of Life Scale
Time frame: Prior to start; at 5 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks, and 20 weeks; then 12 weeks post-treatment
Functions of Identity Scale Change
Examines aspects of identity
Time frame: Prior to start; at 5 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks, and 20 weeks; then 12 weeks post-treatment
Social Connectedness Scale Change
Measure of sense of social connectedness
Time frame: Prior to start; at 5 weeks, 10 weeks, 15 weeks, and 20 weeks; then 12 weeks post-treatment
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