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Emotional Brain Training for Addiction Medicine Treatment - A Pilot Study
Sponsor: Loma Linda University
Summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to determine whether Emotional Brain Training (EBT), a behavioral modification method, can help manage stress and health problems related to addiction. EBT teaches skills to deactivate harmful circuits (automatic reactions) and activate healing circuits to quickly shift mood from negative to positive. Participants in the EBT group will receive focused, intensive instruction on using these skills to rewire unwanted brain circuits, with the aim of achieving lasting improvements in emotional health and quality of life. The study will assess whether EBT is an effective tool when added to standard of care (SOC), which includes medications for addiction treatment (MAT). Researchers will compare changes in stress, anxiety, and cravings after 8 weeks of EBT plus SOC versus SOC alone. Participants: * will either continue receiving standard treatments (SOC) at the Addiction Recovery Clinic (ARC) at SAC Health in San Bernardino * or receive both EBT and SOC at ARC * in the SOC group will continue monthly visits at ARC and weekly counseling * in the EBT plus SOC group will continue monthly visits and weekly counseling at ARC, along with weekly EBT group sessions by telephone * will complete online assessments at weeks 0, 4, and 8 Upon completion of the study, all participants will resume SOC
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
54
Start Date
2026-03
Completion Date
2026-08-31
Last Updated
2026-01-13
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
Emotional Brain Training
Emotional Brain Training (EBT) is a structured, neuroscience-based behavioral intervention that focuses on rewiring the brain's stress-related circuits to promote emotional resilience, self-regulation, and lasting behavioral change. This behavioral intervention has not been implemented in addiction treatments in the past. Unlike traditional therapies that primarily target cognitive processes or symptom management, EBT directly addresses the physiological and emotional root causes of maladaptive behaviors by engaging the brain's natural neuroplasticity mechanisms. EBT integrates rapid emotional processing tools, peer-to-peer support, clinician-facilitated sessions, and mobile app-based self-care to systematically transition brain circuits from stress-reactive to stress-resilient states.
Standard addiction counseling and medical therapy
Participants will receive standard counseling (including but not limited to cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, etc.), which does not include EBT, in addition to medications for addiction treatment (including but not limited to buprenorphine, naltrexone, bupropion, etc.).
Locations (1)
Addiction Recovery Clinic at SAC Health
San Bernardino, California, United States