Ongoing Studies

Check back periodically to see if there are any new opportunities to contribute to current understandings of trauma and dissociation!

There are currently two research opportunities available for English-speaking adults age 18 or older.

The first study is run by a research team at Towson University and is for individuals with a professional diagnosis of DID, OSDD-1, dissociative PTSD, or C-PTSD who have a therapist who is willing to participate alongside them. The study advertisement is as follows:

We are excited to share that we are now looking for people living with dissociative disorders, the dissociative subtype of PTSD, or complex PTSD, and their clinicians to participate in our TOP DD Network Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)!

This study is led by Bethany Brand, Ph.D. and Hugo Schielke, Ph.D., and is guided by a panel of additional dissociative disorders (DD) experts. The TOP DD research team developed a web-based educational program for dissociative patients and their clinicians with the input of experts and patients. The program focuses on improving patients' ability to safely manage and reduce intense emotions, PTSD symptoms, and dissociation. Both the patient and individual clinician must agree to enroll together in the study. In order to participate, patients need to commit to doing 2 hours of work per week including watching short educational videos (between 10 -12 minutes each week), completing weekly writing exercises to apply what they will be learning, and practicing skills each day. (We will not be collecting these exercises but encourage patients to consider sharing these with their clinicians). Clinicians will need to be able to commit to spending approximately 15-30 minutes each week to watch the same videos and read the writing and practice exercise prompts. Clinicians and patients determine the pace at which they access and use the study’s materials, although patients cannot access the next set of materials until a week has passed since completing the last topic and their clinician has reviewed the prior week’s materials.

Both patients and clinicians need to have reliable, fast internet access. The TOP DD researchers cannot provide consultation or treatment recommendations. This limitation in the researchers’ role is the reason patients must be in individual therapy in order to participate. To ensure confidentiality, participants will never reveal their names and the researchers will not see participants’ email addresses.

Patients and clinicians will complete a screening survey at the beginning of the study to see if they meet criteria to participate, after which they do an initial survey, then a follow up survey every 6 months for one year. Clinician surveys require between 30 minutes - 1 hour to complete; patient surveys require between 1-2 hours. Participants evaluate each week's materials with brief questions which enables the researchers to improve the program.

Clinicians are limited to one patient participating in the study. The Institutional Review Board at Towson University has approved this study (Protocol #1438).

More information is available at: http://topddstudy.net/

If you are a clinician and would like to participate in the study, go to: http://topddstudy.net/ and access the Clinician Screening Survey.

If you are a patient and would like to participate in the study, we encourage you to forward this along to your therapist and talk about whether this study may be a good fit for you.

(Note: Clinicians must make the request to participate in the study by completing the Screening Survey. Email links to the Patient Screening Survey will be sent to the clinician only after the clinician’s Screening Survey suggests that the clinician-patient team meets the initial criteria for participation.)

If you have questions about the study, you can email the research team at TOPDD@towson.edu. Please do not include your name or other identifying information.

Thank you!

Bethany Brand, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, TOP DD Network RCT Study
Hugo Schielke, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator, TOP DD Network RCT Study

The TOP DD Consultant Team:
Ruth Lanius, Ph.D., M.D. and Paul Frewen, Ph.D., London, Ontario, Canada
Richard Loewenstein, M.D., Shae Nester, M.A. and Amie Myrick L.C.P.C., Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Frank Putnam, M.D., Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
Kathy Steele, M.N, C.S., Atlanta, Georgia
Suzette Boon, Ph.D., The Netherlands
Ellen Jepsen, M.D., Ph.D., Modum Bad, Norway
Willemien Langeland, Ph.D., Bascous, France

The second study is run by a doctoral student at Alliant International University and is for any adult fluent in English. The study advertisement is as follows:

Hello!

My name is Annika Lundin, and I am a doctoral student at the California School of Professional
Psychology at Alliant International University. I am conducting a study looking at the lasting
impact of various experiences of childhood neglects and abuses on adult mental health,
specifically with adult symptoms of dissociation. Dissociation is known in the field of
psychology as the "disruption of and/or discontinuity in the normal integration of consciousness,
memory, identity, emotion, perception, body representation, motor control, and behavior"
(American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 291). Individuals with and without histories of
maltreatment in their childhood, who are fluent in English are requested in order to gather
information regarding the range of dissociative experiences. Volunteers must be 18 years or
older. You will be asked questions about your history as well as any current symptoms of
dissociation, and the entire process should take around 25 minutes. That said, you are allowed to
go at your own pace and take breaks if needed. Information will be gathered via two brief
surveys that can both be answered on Qualtrics, a HIPPA-compliant site. Participation and
information shared in the study is confidential and will remain anonymous, even to me. The goal
of this study is to better understand the extent of dissociative symptoms in adulthood that are
linked to various types of childhood neglect and abuse. Those without histories of neglect or
abuse are still encouraged to participate, as this provides further support and comparisons to the
general population. If you are interested, please follow the link
(https://alliant.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5o5oIZB1JqPaajk) and the directions on Qualtrics.
Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Annika Lundin, M.A.
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Candidate

Please contact me if you'd like to be added to an email list and alerted when new studies are available. Both dissociative individuals and mental health professionals may request to receive study alerts.

Policy on Research Related Requests

This site welcomes opportunities to help researchers with potential or ongoing projects. If you have an IRB approved study that pertains to trauma and dissociation and that you would like to advertise through this website or if you would like feedback on a study proposal, please contact me with all relevant study materials so that we can discuss your options. Please understand that this offer is not extended to student projects that are not IRB approved.

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All content on this website is provided for the purpose of general information only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. Please consult a licensed professional before making any healthcare decisions or for guidance about potential mental health conditions.

This website was last updated 11/29/2022.

This page was last updated 3/14/2023.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License by Katherine Reuben.