Trial of Acceptance and Mindfulness-based Exposure Therapy (AMBET) and Present Centered Therapy (PCT)
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Columbia University
- Where
- New York, United StatesSee the site
- Trial code
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 90 people, planned
- Started
- 31 Mar 2026
- Expected to end
- 31 Mar 2029
- Type of study
- Interventional, 2 groupsOne group gets an existing treatment, for comparison.
- Treatments tested
- Acceptance and Mindfulness Based Exposure Therapy
- Present-Centered Therapy
- Record updated
- 9 April 2026
Who can take part
- Age
- 18 years to 81 years
- Sex
- Women and men
- Healthy volunteers
- Cannot take part
The registry criteria, word for word
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Who can take part
- Between 18 and 81 years old at the time of consent
- Fluency in English
- Medical history of cardiac arrest >3 months ago
- Clinically elevated PTSD symptoms (Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) score ≥25)
- U.S. Resident
Who cannot take part
- Initiation of new psychotropic medication <3 months ago
- Concurrent psychotherapy for PTSD
- Lifetime history of primary psychotic or bipolar disorders
- Current substance use disorder (moderate or severe in the past 6 months)
- Substantial cognitive impairment (Mini Mental Status Exam (MMSE) score <25)
- Non-cardiac etiology of CA (drowning, bleeding, trauma, drug overdose, etc)
- Terminal illness with life expectancy <1 year
- Active suicidal ideation with some intent to act in past 12 months, and/or suicide attempt in past 24 months
Check if you might fit
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 18 and 81 years old?
Where in United States
- Columbia University Irving Medical CenterNew York, United StatesContact: Maja Bergman, Ph.D.Taking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a new therapy called Acceptance- and Mindfulness-Based Exposure Therapy (AMBET) helps treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in people who survived a cardiac arrest. This study will compare AMBET to another psychotherapy treatment called Present Centered Therapy (PCT) to see which therapy is more effective in treating PTSD.
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The main questions it aims to answer are:
Does AMBET reduce PTSD symptoms in survivors of cardiac arrest? How do the benefits of AMBET compare to PCT?
Participants will:
* Be randomly assigned to receive either AMBET or PCT * Attend 12 hours of individual psychotherapy sessions over about 12 weeks * Complete short weekly surveys about their mood and behaviors online * Wear a Fitbit device to track sleep and activity during the study * Do brief homework assignments between sessions
The 2 groups in the trial
- Acceptance- and mindfulness-based exposure therapy (AMBET)Treatment being tested
Remotely delivered psychotherapy combining exposure therapy with mindfulness.
Treatment: Acceptance and Mindfulness Based Exposure Therapy
- Present-Centered Therapy (PCT)Existing treatment, for comparison
Remotely delivered psychotherapy that focuses on increasing adaptive responses to current life stressors and difficulties.
Treatment: Present-Centered Therapy
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- A Randomized Clinical Trial of Acceptance and Mindfulness-based Exposure Therapy (AMBET) and Present Centered Therapy (PCT)
- Fit questions
- Built from NCT07410481, who can take part
- Record updated
- 9 April 2026