Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in Groups for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Clinical Trial in Brazil

Group-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Clinical Trial

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) + Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) in Group is effective to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in adults.

Researchers will compare intervention to control group to see if those who attend the group therapy have better results than control group.

Participants will go through a 16-week group therapy based on a protocol designed by Michael Twohig (Twohig et al, 2018).

• Participants will not have any medication adjustment during therapy
• Participants will be assessed 3 times throughout the therapy, plus an assessment in a 6-month follow-up.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) + Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) in Group is effective to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in adults. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Can ACT in groups help decrease the severity of OCD symptoms?
• Can ACT in groups help increase psychological flexibility in this group?
• Can ACT in groups help increase quality of life in this group?

Researchers will compare intervention (n=16) to control group (n=8) to see if those who attend the group therapy have better results than control group.

We will perform an unequal randomization in a 2:1 ratio, in blocks of 6, for allocation to each group. The assessor of the outcomes of interest will be blinded to the group to which the participant was assigned

Participants will go through a 16-week group therapy based on a protocol designed by Michael Twohig (Twohig et al, 2018).

• Participants will not have any medication adjustment during therapy
• Participants will be assessed 3 times throughout the therapy, plus an assessment in a 6-month follow-up.

Inclusion Criteria:

• OCD diagnosis according to DMS-5/ Minimum score of 20 in YBOCS

Exclusion Criteria:

• Psychotic disorder, maniac episode, intellectual disability, Chemical dependency, Suicidal risk, another current psychotherapy