Several research projects are currently being conducted at NijCa²re. One of these ongoing projects are described below.

Intensive exposure therapy (IET) for adolescents and adults with PTSD
People diagnosed with a posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suffer, among other symptoms, from persistent, vivid memories; they involuntarily keep ‘reliving’ the trauma. Today, there are effective treatments, one of which is exposure therapy, during which patients confront their worst fears: they are exposed to their memories of the trauma. Through exposure their anxiety and ultimately their PTSD symptoms will be ameliorated. Such treatments typically comprise one weekly, prolonged exposure session for the duration of three months. In our IET trial we are looking whether PTSD can also be effectively addressed by offering patients all exposure sessions within the course of one or two weeks. Here, we assume that especially people who have been unsuccessfully treated before and those who cannot take sufficient time off from school or work may benefit from this new brief treatment.

SpeakUp!: testosterone and speech anxiety
Within the NijCa²re group we are currently examining in the SpeakUp! project if we can improve the effect of one exposure session for women with speech anxiety by administering a single dose of testosterone to them. The idea behind this project is that administering testosterone to participants may result in lower levels of fear and a lower tendency to avoid the feared situation. This may lead to better exposure session outcomes. We completed the inclusion of participants and results will be analysed. If you are interested in this project you can contact one of the staff members via: speakup.onderzoek@propersona.nl