Group Skills Training for Body Awareness and Managing Emotions
NCT ID: NCT07315763
Last Updated: 2026-01-07
Study Results
The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.
Basic Information
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NOT_YET_RECRUITING
NA
10 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2026-01-27
2026-09-30
Brief Summary
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Detailed Description
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The participants will be patients from Ashford and St Peter's NHS Specialist Weight Management Service. They will be identified and approached by the clinical team during routine clinical contact and if the patient is interested in taking part, consent to share their details with the research team will be gained. Participants will be informed on the nature of the skills training group and provided with a video and information sheet explaining what the group will involve so they are able to decide if they wish to take part.
Participants will complete the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA) to identify their stage of change (Pre-contemplation, Contemplation, Action or Maintenance) before taking part and those in the pre-contemplation stage will not be included. Participants will be informed of this beforehand and it will be explained that this is to ensure that only those who will be best able to engage and make use of the group skills training attend the group and take part in the study, given the high level of commitment. Participants will also complete a demographics questionnaire asking them to self-report their gender, age category, ethnicity and state any comorbidities including physical health conditions, mental health conditions and neurodiversity. This information will not be used to identify the participants but will be used when considering collective group of participants and the generalisability of the findings.
In all phases, participants will complete a brief daily questionnaire in the form of a four question visual analog scale, asking participants to record the frequency they are noticing and responding to shifts in their body and engaging in an unwanted chosen behaviour, such as emotional eating. The fourth question will only be completed during the intervention and follow-up phase and asks participants to record the frequency of skills practice. Participants will also be asked to complete two short online questionnaires weekly that take up to 15 minutes to complete, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness Version 2.
Participants will take part in a six-session group skills training with a Trainee Clinical Psychologist and qualified Clinical Psychologist under the supervision of the the research supervisor, a Clinical Psychologist and the treatment manual creator via video call, scheduled weekly for the first three sessions and fortnightly for the following three sessions, taking place over a nine-week period. Each session will be two hours long. The group will focus on understanding the autonomic nervous system, respecting changes in physiology as a result of the autonomic nervous system, and learning strategies to enhance body awareness and manage emotions, such as breathing exercises. The content of the sessions will include: introduction to polyvagal theory; application of polyvagal theory to client's difficulties; mapping on the polyvagal ladder; exercises to regulate up the ladder; practicing exercises and mapping on the ladder and summarising and skills training blueprint. Participants will be asked to practice techniques in sessions and applied independently between sessions with the chance to feedback on the application of ideas and techniques each session. Participants will be contacted via mobile phone or email to remind them of the group appointment and to complete daily and weekly questionnaires.
After participants have completed the group skills training, during the four-week follow-up phase, participants will complete a feedback form that will be used to assess the acceptability of the group. During this phase, participants will continue practicing learned techniques and continue to complete the daily and weekly questionnaires. At the end of the study, participants will be provided with a full debrief and signposted to further support if needed.
Conditions
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
SINGLE_GROUP
TREATMENT
NONE
Study Groups
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Baseline Phase
Participants will be randomized to a 2 or 3 week baseline phase.
No interventions assigned to this group
Intervention Phase
The skills training intervention phase will begin immediately following the individual's baseline phase. The intervention is a group polyvagal theory-informed skills training. The skills training phase is six sessions of polyvagal theory-informed skills training delivered in a group that will take place over nine weeks (three weekly sessions and three fortnightly). Each session will be two hours long. The group will focus on understanding the autonomic nervous system, respecting changes in physiology as a result of the autonomic nervous system, and learning strategies to enhance body awareness and manage emotions, such as breathing exercises. Participants will be asked to practice techniques in sessions and applied independently between sessions with the chance to feedback on the application of ideas and techniques each session.
Polyvagal informed skills training group
Research has found a connection between obesity and challenges in managing emotions, including emotional eating (Fernandes et al., 2018; Willem et al., 2019; Konttinen et al., 2019). There is currently a lack of treatments designed to address these issues whilst also promoting a curious and accepting relationship with the body. This may be particularly important for this group who may have a history of dieting or experience internalised stigma which can create a disconnect between the person and their body, a factor that many existing approaches fail to address, even though it is known to negatively impact health (Puhl et al., 2020). This study aligns with recent shifts in health policy, which move away from focusing solely on weight loss and instead prioritise non-weight-related health outcomes (Hunger et al., 2020). This group skills training, based on Polyvagal Theory (Porges, 1995), is designed to meet these needs.
Follow-up Phase
After participants have completed the group skills training, there is a 4 week follow-up phase. During this phase, there is no intervention but participants will continue practicing learned techniques independently.
No interventions assigned to this group
Interventions
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Polyvagal informed skills training group
Research has found a connection between obesity and challenges in managing emotions, including emotional eating (Fernandes et al., 2018; Willem et al., 2019; Konttinen et al., 2019). There is currently a lack of treatments designed to address these issues whilst also promoting a curious and accepting relationship with the body. This may be particularly important for this group who may have a history of dieting or experience internalised stigma which can create a disconnect between the person and their body, a factor that many existing approaches fail to address, even though it is known to negatively impact health (Puhl et al., 2020). This study aligns with recent shifts in health policy, which move away from focusing solely on weight loss and instead prioritise non-weight-related health outcomes (Hunger et al., 2020). This group skills training, based on Polyvagal Theory (Porges, 1995), is designed to meet these needs.
Other Intervention Names
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* Current service user of Specialist Weight Management Programme
* Aged 18-65.
* Good level of English spoken, reading and writing.
* Identified by the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA) to be in the Contemplation, Action or Maintenance stage of change.
* Access to device with internet connection to complete online questionnaires and with camera for online group sessions.
Exclusion Criteria
* Currently in psychological skills training treatment during the 16-week study period
* History of organic brain injury or cognitive impairment
* Clients presenting with suicidal intent
18 Years
65 Years
ALL
No
Sponsors
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Ashford and St. Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust
OTHER
Royal Holloway University
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Jodie Ferris
Trainee Clinical Psychologist
Principal Investigators
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Jodie F Ferris
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
Royal Holloway University
Jodie S Vasiliou, C.Psychol.
Role: STUDY_CHAIR
Royal Holloway University
Katie S Ashcroft, DClinPsy
Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR
Royal Holloway University
Locations
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Ashford and St Peter's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Ashford, Surrey, United Kingdom
Countries
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Central Contacts
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Facility Contacts
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References
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Mehling WE, Acree M, Stewart A, Silas J, Jones A. The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, Version 2 (MAIA-2). PLoS One. 2018 Dec 4;13(12):e0208034. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208034. eCollection 2018.
Porges SW. Orienting in a defensive world: mammalian modifications of our evolutionary heritage. A Polyvagal Theory. Psychophysiology. 1995 Jul;32(4):301-18. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1995.tb01213.x.
Puhl RM, Himmelstein MS, Pearl RL. Weight stigma as a psychosocial contributor to obesity. Am Psychol. 2020 Feb-Mar;75(2):274-289. doi: 10.1037/amp0000538.
Konttinen H, van Strien T, Mannisto S, Jousilahti P, Haukkala A. Depression, emotional eating and long-term weight changes: a population-based prospective study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2019 Mar 20;16(1):28. doi: 10.1186/s12966-019-0791-8.
Fernandes J, Ferreira-Santos F, Miller K, Torres S. Emotional processing in obesity: a systematic review and exploratory meta-analysis. Obes Rev. 2018 Jan;19(1):111-120. doi: 10.1111/obr.12607. Epub 2017 Oct 10.
Willem C, Nandrino JL, Doba K, Roussel M, Triquet C, Verkindt H, Pattou F, Gandolphe MC. Interoceptive reliance as a major determinant of emotional eating in adult obesity. J Health Psychol. 2021 Oct;26(12):2118-2130. doi: 10.1177/1359105320903093. Epub 2020 Jan 31.
Vasileiou V, Abbott S. Emotional eating among adults with healthy weight, overweight and obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2023 Oct;36(5):1922-1930. doi: 10.1111/jhn.13176. Epub 2023 Apr 19.
Willem C, Gandolphe MC, Roussel M, Verkindt H, Pattou F, Nandrino JL. Difficulties in emotion regulation and deficits in interoceptive awareness in moderate and severe obesity. Eat Weight Disord. 2019 Aug;24(4):633-644. doi: 10.1007/s40519-019-00738-0. Epub 2019 Jun 26.
Provided Documents
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Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan
Document Type: Informed Consent Form
Other Identifiers
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IRAS 356169
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id
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