Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT02517723

Narrative Exposure Therapy in Women With Borderline Personality Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) is an evidence-based trauma-focussed treatment, suitable for survivors of prolonged and repeated exposure to traumatic stress and childhood adversity. Patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) often suffer from a comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) caused by multiple traumatic events. Therapeutic aims are the reduction of PTSD-Symptoms in these patients via activation of associative neural networks related to traumatic experiences and habituation of fear and the placement of traumatic experiences in a reconstructed, detailed and consistent autobiography. This practice enables the processing of and coping with painful memories and the construction of clear contingencies of dangerous and safe conditions, generally leading to significant emotional recovery. The investigators assume that using NET the reduction of PTSD symptom severity is greater compared to treatment by Dialectical-Behavioral Therapy (DBT).

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Borderline Personality Disorder Mental Disorders Personality Disorders Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders, Traumatic Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders

Age range

18 year–65 year

Sex eligibility

Female

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Clinic of Psychiatry, Evangelisches Krankenhaus Bielefeld

Bielefeld, 33617, Germany

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • age ≥ 18 years
  • DSM-IV-TR diagnoses of BPD and PTSD
  • legal competence
  • none or stable medication
  • illegal drug abstinence for at least the last 6 months
  • capacity to consent and contract

Exclusion criteria

  • other severe mental disorders (e.g., bipolar disorder, acute psychosis)
  • simultaneous consumption of drugs
  • simultaneous participation in other treatment-studies
  • pregnancy or breastfeeding
  • lack of capability to negotiate a no-suicide agreement
  • suicide attempt or attempts during the 8 weeks prior to start of treatment
  • perpetrator-contact
  • Body Mass Index (BMI) < 16

Treatment and study plan

Narrative Exposure Therapy

Behavioral

Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) is based on Testimony Therapy in combination with cognitive behavioural exposure techniques and elements of client-centered counselling. The clients can restore their autobiographic memories about their traumatic experiences. In this way fragmentary memories are transformed into a coherent narrative structure. This practice enables the processing of painful emotions and the construction of clear contingencies of dangerous and safe conditions, generally leading to significant emotional recovery. Therapeutic aims are the reduction of PTSD-Symptomload via activation of fear-network and habituation of fear and the placement of traumatic experiences in a reconstructed, detailed and consistent autobiography.

NET will be applied in eight sessions (90-120min/session) in a standardized, manualized manner.

Other names: NET

Dialectical behavior therapy

Behavioral

Dialectical behavior therapy is a cognitive behavioral treatment program developed by Marsha Linehan to treat suicidal clients meeting criteria for BPD. It directly targets suicidal behavior, behaviors that interfere with treatment delivery, and other dangerous, severe, or destabilizing behaviors.

Via standard DBT patients improve behavioral capabilities, motivation for skillful behavior, generalization of gains to the natural environment, structuring the treatment environment so that it reinforces functional rather than dysfunctional behaviors. It also targets the therapist capabilities and motivation to treat patients effectively. Patients get weekly individual psychotherapy (1 h/wk), group skills training (3.75 h/wk), a weekly therapist consultation team meetings.

Other names: DBT

Standard Inpatient Care

Behavioral

Unspecific group therapy that is identical in both groups (music therapy etc.)

Other names: SIC

Waiting List

Other

Treatment as usual in the community (no DBT, no exposure of trauma memories)

Primary outcomes

  1. Change from first investigation in Posttraumatic Symptom Severity at 18 months (Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale; CAPS)

    Time frame: first investigation (t1), after waiting list (3 months, t2), directly after therapy (3 months, t1), 1 year after therapy (15 months, t3)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change from first investigation in Borderline Symptome Severity at 18 months(Borderline Symptom Liste; BSL)

    Time frame: first investigation (t1), after waiting list (3 months, t2), directly after therapy (6 months, t3), 1 year after therapy (18 months, t4)

  2. Change from first investigation in Severity of Dissociative Symptoms at 18 months (Fragebogen zu Dissoziativen Symptome ;FDS)

    Time frame: first investigation (t1), after waiting list (3 months, t2), directly after therapy (6 months, t3), 1 year after therapy (18 months, t4)

  3. Change from first investigation in Severity of Depressive Symptoms at 18 months (Becks Depressions Inventar II, BDI-II)

    Time frame: first investigation (t1), after waiting list (3 months, t2), directly after therapy (6 months, t3), 1 year after therapy (18 months, t4)

  4. Change from first investigation in Quality of Life at 12 months (WHO-Qualitiy of Life; WHOQOL)

    Time frame: first investigation (t1), after waiting list (3 months, t2), directly after therapy (6 months, t3), 1 year after therapy (18 months, t4)

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Evangelisches Krankenhaus Bielefeld gGmbH

Other

Registry information

Official study title

A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial (RCCT) to Test the Effectiveness of Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) Versus Dialectical-Behavioral Therapy in Reducing Trauma Related Symptoms in Women Suffering From Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Important dates

Study start
2014
Primary completion
2020
Study completion
2020
First posted
Aug 7, 2015
Registry last updated
Oct 8, 2021

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.