An interventional study of Mindful Self-Compassion in Anxiety Disorders, Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder, sponsored by Georgetown University. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-29.
Sponsored by Georgetown University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
The study will compare 8-week Mindful Self-Compassion training, compared to a control group that does not receive the intervention, on anxiety and depression symptom severity in patients with diagnosed anxiety disorders (generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder) or major depressive disorder.
Anxiety disorders, such as generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder, and depressive disorders result in significant distress, impairment in social and occupational functioning and increased risk for suicide. While there are medication and psychotherapy treatment options, they can sometimes be difficult to access and may be ineffective for a proportion of the population. Also, many patients are reluctant to take psychiatric medication, and many prefer to avoid psychiatric care altogether due to stigma or distrust of medical care settings such as a psychiatry clinic. Mindfulness meditation training can be provided outside of a medical care setting and may be more acceptable and feasible for some patients.
One way that mindfulness meditation may provide unique benefits for anxiety and depression is through decreasing self-judgment and increasing self-compassion. Research has shown that people with anxiety disorders, for example, have lower levels of self-compassion than people without anxiety. This is consistent with theories about the development and phenomenology of anxiety disorders, which are characterized as having high levels of self-criticism. Mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to improve self-compassion and self-acceptance.
In this study, patients with anxiety disorders or depression will be randomized to either an 8-week class called Mindful Self-Compassion training or a group that does not receive treatment.
7,201 studies on the registry are indexed under Anxiety Disorders; 1,682 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 40 is below the median of 80 across 6,057 interventional studies indexed under Anxiety Disorders.
Browse Anxiety Disorders studies →Georgetown University is the lead sponsor of 292 studies on the registry; 40 are open to participants now.
Of its 28 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 20 (71%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is a weekly class given for 8 weeks. The individual classes last about 2 hours each. The class is provided in a group setting.
Behavioral: Mindful Self-Compassion
The TAU arm will not receive the additional treatment from the study. Subjects will receive psychiatric treatment from their usual providers.
The course teaching mindfulness meditation skills relevant to cultivating self-compassion.
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
Self-report questionnaire of anxiety and depression symptoms, 14 items using 4-point likert scale
Time frame: 8 weeks
Self-compassion Scale
Self-Report questionnaire of 26 items on 5 point likert scale
Time frame: 8 weeks
Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale - Self-Report
Measures severity of social anxiety
Time frame: 8 weeks
PROMIS-Anxiety-Short form
measures anxiety symptoms using HealthMeasures system
Time frame: 8 weeks
PROMIS-Depression-Short Form
measures depression symptoms using HealthMeasures system
Time frame: 8 weeks
Plan to share: No — Individual-level participant data collected will not be made available to the general public due to conditions of ethical approval regarding confidentiality.
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