NCT07207512: EFT-PGD

Emotion-Focused Therapy in the Treatment of Prolonged Grief Disorder

Not yet recruiting NA Last updated 4 December 2025

What this trial tests

NA trial testing Emotion-Focused Therapy for Grief in Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) in 128 participants. Not yet recruiting.

Timeline

1 September 2026

Primary endpoint
1 September 2026

1 December 2027

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	Universidad Pontificia Comillas
Phase	NA
Status	Not yet recruiting
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	quadruple
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	128
Start date	1 September 2026
Primary completion	1 September 2026
Estimated completion	1 December 2027
Sites	1 location across Spain

Drugs / interventions tested

• Emotion-Focused Therapy for Grief
• Self-help intervention based on EFT

Conditions studied

• Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) — all drugs for Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) →

Sponsor

Universidad Pontificia Comillas

Who can join

18 and older, any sex, with Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD). Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) works to reduce symptoms of Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) in adults. PGD happens when the pain of losing a loved one lasts a long time and causes serious problems in daily life.

* The main questions this study aims to answer are:

1. Does EFT lower grief symptoms in adults with PGD?
2. Does EFT also help with related problems, such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and overall distress?
* Who can take part:

Adults (18 years or older) who lost a loved one at least 6 months ago and meet the criteria for PGD.

\- What will happen in the study:

Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups:

1. EFT group: 8 to 10 weekly, face-to-face therapy sessions with a trained therapist.
2. Self-help group: 10 weekly self-help exercises based on EFT, completed on their own.

* All participants will complete questionnaires on grief, mood, and well-being before starting, during the study, at the end of treatment (12 weeks), and again at 5 months and 12 months after starting.
* In the EFT group, the therapeutic relationship will also be measured during sessions 3 and 8.
* Why this study is important:

Most current treatments for grief are based on cognitive-behavioral therapy, but not everyone benefits from them. EFT is a promising therapy that focuses on emotions and has shown positive results for other mental health problems. This trial will test if EFT can be an effective treatment for people struggling with prolonged grief.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial.