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THE
study
If you are 5-25 years old, and fears or worries bother you,
you might benefit from a type of counseling called exposure therapy offered in the BRAVE study!
What is the BRAVE Study?
The BRAVE Study is a research program taking place at PARC. The purpose of The BRAVE Study is to test the best way to measure treatment quality during a type of therapy called Exposure Therapy, for therapists treating children and young adults with anxiety. Exposure therapy involves teaching you and your child skills to enable your child to gradually come into contact with feared situations. Exposure therapy is known to be a very effective treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and anxiety, but it is not often used during therapy outside of research studies because it requires special training. As part of this study, researchers have provided exposure therapy training for your therapist at Riverside Community Care. Your child's therapist may or may not have used exposure therapy before this study. Children are being asked to participate in this study to help us test a new tool to better understand different things that happen during exposure therapy to make it more or less effective. Results of the study will help determine whether the tool can be used to make exposure therapy training more widely available to many therapists in the future. We are hoping a total of approximately 177 children will participate through the end of this study across approximately 85 therapists.
Who can participate?
You may be eligible for BRAVE if you or your child:
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Are between the ages of 5-25
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Have symptoms of anxiety and/or OCD
What will I do as a part of the study?
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Study participants will have exposure therapy incorporated into treatment with a therapist who received specialized exposure training from the BRAVE research team
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Participants will also complete 4 symptom assessments and a short questionnaire after therapy sessions, for which their time will be compensated
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All other parts of treatment will be the same regardless of study participation
If you have specific questions about the research aspect of this study, please contact PARC at 401-432-1473
How can I join
the BRAVE study?
In order to participate, you or your child must first sign up to be a Riverside or Gateway client.
From the list below, please determine which is the most convenient participating location:
Steps to join the BRAVE study
Meet The Team
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is exposure experimental?
No! Exposure is not experimental. It has been tested in numerous research trials and is shown to be safe and effective in treating anxiety and OCD
Will treatment only consist of ONLY exposure?
Not necessarily. The BRAVE study does not require clients and therapists to follow a strict treatment plan and client’s clinical needs always come first. Depending on individual needs, exposure can be flexibly incorporated into a patient’s treatment and they can work on any co-occurring non-anxiety symptoms as well.
What are the costs for participating in the study?
Aside from the regular payment for clinical services at Riverside, there is no extra cost to participate in this study. For participation in any activities outside of regular treatment that clients are completing as a part of this reearch study (i.e. assessments with research staff) will be paid for by the study and will not in any circumstances be billed to them or their health insurance company. In addition, we will compensate for the client’s time with the amount stated in the table
Is this study binding?
Participation is completely voluntary! Even after clients sign the consent form, they can always change their mind and withdraw from the study at any time. If clients decide not to be in the study or withdraw later, their services at Riverside will not be affected, including therapy as usual.
What will be different if I participate in the study?
BRAVE participants will be seen by a BRAVE trained clinician to receive exposure therapy in an outpatient level of care as well as fill out a single sheet measure after each session. BRAVE participants will also receive an initial evaluation and complete 4 subsequent symptom assessments, for which their time will be compensated
How long do I have to stay in the study?
You can end your participation in the BRAVE study at any time and it will not affect your services at Riverside and Gateway. The BRAVE study does not enforce any treatment length. It is entirely up to you and your therapist how long you participate in the study.
Where will study activity occur?
All in-person study assessments will occur where you choose to receive services. The BRAVE team will drive over to your specific study site!
My therapist is the one that referred me to the BRAVE study. Can I continue to see my current therapist if I decide to join?
Yes! If your therapist is trained as a part of the BRAVE study, and you are currently seeing them, you can continue receiving treatment with the same therapist.