Common Factors Group Psychotherapy for General Mental Health Concerns

The current research will investigate the impact of general psychotherapy using common factors (i.e., techniques and communication skills that are common to all major forms of psychotherapy) to investigate whether mental health professionals can treat a variety of mental health concerns utilizing this general form of psychotherapy as opposed to specific forms of psychotherapy that may require specific trainings or education.

Study Overview

• Status: Withdrawn
• Conditions: Mental Disorders; Stress; Major Depression; Generalized Anxiety; Stress Disorder, Post Traumatic
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Common Factors Group Psychotherapy

Detailed Description

The current research will investigate the impact of general psychotherapy using common factors (i.e., techniques and communication skills that are common to all major forms of psychotherapy) to investigate whether mental health professionals can treat a variety of mental health concerns utilizing this general form of psychotherapy as opposed to specific forms of psychotherapy that may require specific trainings or education.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Alabama
    • Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 35233
      • University of Alabama at Birmingham

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• At least 18 years old
• Experiencing self-reported psychological distress

Exclusion Criteria:

• has engaged in self-harm within the last three months
• has attempted suicide within the last year
• has had an active plan to attempt suicide within the last 30 days
• currently diagnosed with any eating disorder
• has experienced hallucinations or delusions within the last 30 days
• has used narcotics within the last 7 days (heroin, meth, crack cocaine, opioids)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Common Factors Group Therapy; We will use a general common factors psychotherapy utilizing only psychotherapeutic techniques common to most forms of psychotherapy (e.g., listening and communication skills)	Behavioral: Common Factors Group Psychotherapy; This intervention will not contain active ingredients from established specific forms of psychotherapy (e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Screener	Measure of anxiety symptoms. High scores more symptoms.	At enrollment and at the end of treatment at 6 weeks
Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Screener	Measure of depressive symptoms. High scores more symptoms.	At enrollment and at the end of treatment at 6 weeks
Patient Checklist-5	Measure of post-traumatic stress symptoms. High scores more symptoms.	At enrollment and at the end of treatment at 6 weeks
Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale	Measure of obsessive compulsive disorder symptoms. High scores more symptoms.	At enrollment and at the end of treatment at 6 weeks
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test	Measure of concerning alcohol use. High scores more symptoms.	At enrollment and at the end of treatment at 6 weeks
National Institute of Drug Abuse Modified Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test	Measure of substance use. High scores more use.	At enrollment and at the end of treatment at 6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Life Quality Scale	Measure of life quality. High scores better life quality.	At enrollment and at the end of treatment at 6 weeks
Experiential Avoidance Rating Scale	Measure of experiential avoidance. High scores more symptoms.	At enrollment and at the end of treatment at 6 weeks

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Therapeutic Alliance Scale	Measure of patient-therapist alliance during therapy. High scores better alliance.	At conclusion of therapy after 6 weeks.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Nicholas Borgogna, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Principal Investigator: Drew Whittington, MS, MA, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 17, 2025
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 30, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): December 30, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 24, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 24, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): September 26, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 5, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 29, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: common factors psychotherapy
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders; Mood Disorders; Anxiety Disorders; Stress Disorders, Traumatic; Depressive Disorder; Mental Disorders; Depressive Disorder, Major; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB-300013539

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: All de-identified data collected will be available2
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: When results are published
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Requesting researchers

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No