Cognitive Rehabilitation and Exposure-based Class for Compulsive Hoarding

NCT ID: NCT02306174

Last Updated: 2025-07-29

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 200 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2014-09-30
• Study Completion Date: 2025-06-26

Brief Summary

The purpose of this protocol is to investigate the effectiveness of a manualized, 20-week group cognitive rehabilitation (CR) and exposure therapy (ET) course for compulsive hoarding. The overarching aim is to understand whether this course will decrease the core symptoms of hoarding and associated features.

Conditions

Hoarding Disorder

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Cognitive Rehabilitation and Exposure-based Class for Compulsi

Cognitive training is to improve thinking by learning new skills and strategies. The class begins with cognitive training to increase ability to carry out the skills learned later in treatment.

Exposure therapy for discarding and acquiring helps to improve ability to make choices about possessions and learn to tolerate anxiety. Participants will face making difficult choices about items and potentially letting them go. Through repeated exposure to decisions about discarding and acquiring, distress about letting go or making choices about items will decrease over time.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Cognitive Rehabilitation and Exposure-based Class for Compulsive Hoarding

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The group sessions consists of 20 classes, each lasting approximately 90 minutes and may consist of some or all of the following:

• A group agreement and a confidentiality contract
• Homework assignments
• Viewing informational videos about hoarding
• Behavioral experiments including sorting and discarding exercises
• Non-acquisition exposures

This course is based on the Manual Cognitive Rehabilitation and Exposure/Sorting Therapy for Compulsive Hoarding (Ayers et al., 2014).

Interventions

Cognitive Rehabilitation and Exposure-based Class for Compulsive Hoarding

The group sessions consists of 20 classes, each lasting approximately 90 minutes and may consist of some or all of the following:

• A group agreement and a confidentiality contract
• Homework assignments
• Viewing informational videos about hoarding
• Behavioral experiments including sorting and discarding exercises
• Non-acquisition exposures

This course is based on the Manual Cognitive Rehabilitation and Exposure/Sorting Therapy for Compulsive Hoarding (Ayers et al., 2014).

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Include:

• Individuals who exhibit subclinical and clinical levels of hoarding disorder, as determined by the SCID interview conducted at the screening assessment, will be eligible to participate in the study. Individuals may also display clinically relevant symptoms of hoarding as indicated by scores on the Hoarding Rating Scale Interview (HRS-I) and/or on the Saving Inventory-Revised (SIR).
• Comorbid mood and anxiety disorders are permitted.
• English-speaking
• Pregnant women

Exclusion Criteria

• Adults unable to consent
• Individuals who are not yet adults (infants, children, teenagers)
• Individuals who are over the age of 85
• Individuals with cognitive or physical impairments that would interfere with their participation (e.g., Dementia, uncorrected hearing)
• Participants who have current or past psychotic symptoms or current or past alcohol/substance abuse/dependence may also be excluded.
• Participants may also be excluded if they are currently in other forms of psychotherapy.
• Participants may be excluded if they have had a change in psychotropic medications within three months of the baseline assessment/first class.
• Participants may be excluded if hoarding is not their primary diagnosis.
• Prisoners

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 85 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

University of Miami

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Kiara Timpano

Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Kiara Timpano, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Miami

Locations

University of Miami

Coral Gables, Florida, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

20140644

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id