The Many Roads to Trauma Recovery: A Clinical Trial Comparing Empirically Supported Treatments for Veterans With Co-Morbid Posttraumatic Stress and Substance Use Disorder Symptoms
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT07756723. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Veterans with co-morbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUDs) are at substantial risk of developing hypertension and cardiovascular diseases that often lead to premature death, with some evidence that they may die over 10 years earlier than their counterparts. As such, determining ways to improve their health outcomes is vital. Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback (HRVB) may be one way to restore autonomic balance and teach veterans with PTSD / SUDs how to respond differently to their symptoms. Multiple studies have found that HRVB not only improves autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulation / flexibility among veterans with PTSD, but also reduces PTSD symptoms. Additionally, there is evidence that HRVB reduces cravings and SUD symptoms. Currently it is proposed that the improvement in the PTSD and SUD symptoms are due to a combination of improving ANS regulation and veterans utilizing the HRVB techniques as coping strategies for their symptoms. Yet, none of these studies examined how HRVB versus other active interventions differentially effected symptoms and physiological outcomes. It may be useful to examine HRVB to other active interventions . The current project proposes to alleviate this gap by examining the effects of HRVB to one a active control condition (i.e., Present Centered Psychotherapy; PCT) among 50-residential veterans engaging in PTSD residential programming. Veterans will be recruited from residential programs at the Coatesville VAMC and screened for probable PTSD and an active (i.e., past year) SUD. If eligible, they will attend a brief visit that will include being randomized, engaging in a diagnostic interview, a battery of questionnaires related to PTSD / SUDs, attached to physiology equipment, and then complete 3 tasks (i.e., baseline task, emotion induction, and HRVB or Self-Compassion Break). Upon task completion, all veterans will be screened for risk and begin one of the conditions. Similar research procedures will be conducted after their final session. This study would provide evidence for the real-world effectiveness of HRVB compared to a control condition among one of the highest risk populations treated at the VA, which may provide invaluable insight into active mind-body treatments for veterans with PTSD / SUD.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT07756723
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase 2, Phase 3
- Enrollment
- 50 participants
Conditions and interventions
Interventions
- Trauma Informed Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Behavioral
- Present Centered Therapy Behavioral
Behavioral
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Aug 2026 (Estimated)
- Primary completion
- Aug 2029 (Estimated)
- Completion
- Aug 2030 (Estimated)
- Last update posted
- Aug 11, 2026
2026 – 2030
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coatesville VA Medical Center | Coatesville | Pennsylvania | 19320 | Recruiting |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT07756723, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Aug 11, 2026 · Synced Oct 18, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete public registry record, listed eligibility criteria, and available contact information for NCT07756723 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.