Interactive E-Learning for Therapist Training in Exposure Therapy

The project involves the development of an eLearning platform to train therapists in the delivery of exposure therapy for clients with anxiety disorders and OCD. Following initial development, clinician end users will complete rounds of iterative feedback to inform final development, at which point, therapists will be recruited to complete the entire training program in an open trial.

Study Overview

• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Conditions: ANXIETY DISORDERS (or Anxiety and Phobic Neuroses); Therapist Training
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Therapist Training

Detailed Description

Despite the existence of numerous well-established evidence-based practices (EBPs) for mental disorders, it has been difficult to disseminate these practices in community settings. Exposure therapy for anxiety disorders represents one of the most glaring examples of this research-to- practice gap. Many practicing therapists have never had the opportunity to receive training in exposure therapy and cite this as a primary barrier to its delivery. To address this gap, investigators need to rethink the way in which they train providers. Recent advances in e-learning offer an exciting opportunity to automate both the didactic and interactive components of these evidence-based training modules-an approach that has potential to vastly improve scalability, thus addressing a primary barrier to accessing the most potent treatment available for anxiety. In this project, the team will develop and initially test an automated eLearning approach for therapists learning exposure therapy. The investigators will leverage evidence-based training content and strategies from their prior work, as well as recent advances in eLearning (e.g., adaptive eLearning). The proposed Phase I STTR study will take place in three stages. Stage one (Development) is a nine-month development period during which PARC Innovations will build an alpha version of the training program in accordance with specifications from the research team and early input from a Multi-perspective Advisory Panel (MAP). The MAP (N=8) will consist of professionals with expertise in commercialization, education & e-learning, and/or technology. In Stage two (End- User Feedback and Optimization), a group of clinician end-users (N = 8) will interact with the platform and provide quantitative and qualitative feedback that will be synthesized by the research team into action items for further development. In stage three (Training Trial), therapists (N=40) will complete 8 hours of e-learning training (self-paced) over three weeks. Usability and training outcomes (e.g., therapist knowledge, self-efficacy) from this pilot trial will support a Phase II STTR project aimed at building out and broadly disseminating this eLearning approach.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 56
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Rhode Island
    • Riverside, Rhode Island, United States, 02915
      • Bradley Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• A practicing therapist providing psychotherapy
• Providing treatment for clients with anxiety conditions

Exclusion Criteria:

- Not employed as a mental health provider

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• 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: Open Training Trial; Therapist will complete the entire eLearning training program	Other: Therapist Training; Therapist training in Exposure Therapy delivery using an eLearning platform

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Therapist Beliefs about Exposure (TBES)	The TBES is a well-validated, 21-item likert measure of therapist reservations about exposure therapy delivery. Total scores range from 0-84 with higher scores representing more reservations about using exposure therapy with clients.	Immediately before initiating the training program and immediately after completing the 10-hour training intervention.
System Usability Scale (SUS)	The SUS is a well-validated measure of usability and acceptability of new innovations. This measure is especially common in the evaluation of new software systems. The measure consists of a 10-item measure on a 5-point likert scale. The scale is converted to a 0-100 score with higher scores indicating higher levels of perceived usability.	Immediately before starting the training program and immediately after completing the 10-hour training intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Bradley Hospital
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 17, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): March 31, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): March 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 22, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 27, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): February 2, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 3, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 30, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Exposure therapy; Anxiety Disorders; Therapist training
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Anxiety Disorders; Phobic Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: R41MH139194 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No