Interpersonal TraumaBEAR-SINCT07346638
The BEAR Program for Women With Trauma Who Have Suicidal Thoughts
A study testing BEAR-SI in people with Interpersonal Trauma and Depression, run by Stanford University at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The current study aims to test the feasibility of a new form of group therapy for women who have a history of interpersonal trauma and current suicidal ideation. The Building Empowerment and Resilience (BEAR) Therapeutic group has been adapted for women who have experienced trauma and have current suicidal ideation. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 to 75 years, women only
- Conditions the study is for
- Interpersonal Trauma, Depression, PTSD
- What is being tested?
- BEAR-SI
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 5 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 17 Feb 2026to 1 Sep 2026
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 to 75 years
- Women only
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Women ages 18-75
- History of physical, sexual, and/or sexual emotional violence, with subsequent interpersonal or psychological distress (e.g., depression or anxiety) related to this history.
- Current suicidal thinking
Who cannot join
- Active, significant substance abuse, which could interfere with participation
- Significant medical conditions that would preclude safe participation in the study
- No history of interpersonal trauma
- Acute psychiatric instability
- History of assaultive behavior or is judged to be a potential risk to assault others.
- No current suicidal ideation or behaviors
- Unable to commit to the group for 12 weeks in-person
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, California, 94305
About this study
Official title: A Pilot Study of the Building Empowerment and Resilience Program for Suicidal Ideation
The current study aims to test the feasibility of a new form of group therapy for women who have a history of interpersonal trauma and current suicidal ideation. The Building Empowerment and Resilience (BEAR) Therapeutic group has been adapted for women who have experienced trauma and have current suicidal ideation. It incorporates psychological skills, psychoeducation about trauma and gender-based violence, and physical self-defense training, all within a therapeutic process. It will be implemented with women who have experienced interpersonal trauma (physical, sexual, or emotional abuse/neglect) and experience various mental health difficulties, including suicidal ideation. We aim to assess the feasibility to recruit and implement the BEAR group. Our ultimate aim is to assess whether the program can effect self-efficacy and suicidal ideation.
Read the detailed description
In the US, approximately 36% of women experience some type of sexual violence in their lifetime. Sexual violence can have a significant and lifelong impact on a women's life, with particularly high rates of mental health issues (e.g., depression, anxiety, PTSD). Women who are sexually assaulted have a three-fold risk of lifetime suicidal ideation and more than a five-fold elevated risk of suicide attempts compared to women who have not been sexually assaulted. Women who are victimized are at higher risk of subsequent sexual victimizations, and with that, worsened well-being and an even higher suicide risk.
Empowerment self-defense (ESD) training has consistently been shown to reduce the risk of both attempted and completed sexual assault by approximately 50%. Survivors of rape who participate in such training demonstrate decreases in PTSD symptoms and self-blame for past assaults. Increases in perceived self-efficacy is one of the positive outcomes of ESD work. Perceived self-efficacy is one's beliefs about their competency and capabilities to perform and is a key factor of how people think, behave, feel, and motivate themselves and how they respond in various situations, including risky or traumatic situations. Higher coping self-efficacy buffers individuals who experience trauma from posttraumatic distress, and separately, higher self-efficacy has been shown to be a protective factor against suicidality in several populations.
The purpose of the current study is to test the feasibility of the Building Empowerment and Resilience (BEAR) program which was adapted for women who have a history of sexual violence and currently endorse suicidal thinking. The Building Empowerment and Resilience-SI (BEAR-SI) Therapeutic program incorporates psychological skills, psychoeducation, and physical self-defense training, all within a therapeutic process. Our experience indicates survivors of sexual violence seek a more active intervention as they often continue to feel quite vulnerable with therapy alone. The program specifically addresses the sequalae of sexual assault and teaches skills for maintaining personal safety and for coping with unwanted thoughts, including suicidal thinking. Our goal is to determine the feasibility of the adapted BEAR program and if it enhances self-efficacy and decreases suicidal thoughts. This is a 12-week, in-person therapy group. We will examine pre- and post-group outcomes, as well as 3- and 12-month follow up.
- Conditions
- Interpersonal Trauma, Depression, PTSD, Anxiety, Suicidal Ideations, Sexual Assault
- Being tested
- BEAR-SI
- Keywords
- interpersonal trauma, sexual assault, suicidal ideation, self-defense
- Medical subject headings
- Depression, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Anxiety Disorders, Suicidal Ideation
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
BEAR-SIBehavioural
The BEAR Therapeutic program is a twelve-week group that meets once per week for 1.5 hours per week. The program includes three main components. The first is a psycho-educational component which provides current information about assault statistics, common risk factors, myths that are often associated assault, and safety related information The second component focuses on the development of an assortment of interpersonal skills. This part of the group offers skills such as assertiveness or communication training, boundary setting, and coping skills. The third component of our intervention consists of a thorough set of self-defense skills that help women to keep themselves safe. The repertoire of skills include recognizing unsafe situations, utilizing one's voice, and release from holds. This section provides ample practice blocks, resistance skills, and specific techniques to keep one's self safe.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| BEAR therapy group | Experimental | BEAR therapy intervention Receives: Behavioral: BEAR-SI |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Coping self-efficacy
This scale ranges from 0-286, with 0 indicating no confidence in managing stressors to 286 indicating very high level of confidence that one could do a particular behavior
Measured: Baseline to 12 weeks (post-group)
Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation
Assesses amount of suicidal thinking. The total BSS score can range from 0, with no suicidal thinking to 38 points, severe level of suicidal thinking.
Measured: Baseline to 12 weeks (post-group)
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted16 Jan 2026
- Study start17 Feb 2026
- Primary completion1 Sep 2026
- Study completion1 Sep 2026
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (5)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Interpersonal TraumaStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Stanford UniversityThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 5 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Stanford University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Jennifer Keller, Stanford University
- Investigators
- Jennifer Keller, PhD, Principal investigator, Stanford University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07346638
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 79226
- Acronym
- BEAR-SI
- Status last verified
- Oct 2026
- First submitted
- 19 Dec 2025
- Last updated
- 16 Oct 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: This is a pilot study to determine the feasibility of this group. We will be collecting both qualitative and quantitative data on a small group of participants.
Publications
Hollander, J. A., & Cunningham, J. (2020). Empowerment Self-Defense Training in a Community Population. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 44(2), 187-202. https://doi-org.laneproxy.stanford.edu/10.1177/0361684319897937
Smith, S.G., et al. (2017). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010-2012 State Report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Denneson LM, Smolenski DJ, Bauer BW, Dobscha SK, Bush NE. The Mediating Role of Coping Self-Efficacy in Hope Box Use and Suicidal Ideation Severity. Arch Suicide Res. 2019 Apr-Jun;23(2):234-246. doi: 10.1080/13811118.2018.1456383. Epub 2018 Jul 11.
PubMed 29624123Cieslak R, Benight CC, Caden Lehman V. Coping self-efficacy mediates the effects of negative cognitions on posttraumatic distress. Behav Res Ther. 2008 Jul;46(7):788-98. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2008.03.007. Epub 2008 Mar 18.
PubMed 18456241Dworkin ER, DeCou CR, Fitzpatrick S. Associations between sexual assault and suicidal thoughts and behavior: A meta-analysis. Psychol Trauma. 2022 Oct;14(7):1208-1211. doi: 10.1037/tra0000570. Epub 2020 Mar 23.
PubMed 32202845
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 16 Oct 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- A Pilot Study of the Building Empowerment and Resilience Program for Suicidal Ideation
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07346638
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- BEAR-SI / 79226
- Conditions
- Interpersonal Trauma, Depression, PTSD, Anxiety, Suicidal Ideations, Sexual Assault
- Keywords
- interpersonal trauma, sexual assault, suicidal ideation, self-defense
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 5 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Stanford UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 17 Feb 2026 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 1 Sep 2026 (actual)
- Study completion
- 1 Sep 2026 (actual)
- First posted
- 16 Jan 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The current study aims to test the feasibility of a new form of group therapy for women who have a history of interpersonal trauma and current suicidal ideation. The Building Empowerment and Resilience (BEAR) Therapeutic group has been adapted for women who have experienced trauma and have current suicidal ideation. It incorporates psychological skills, psychoeducation about trauma and gender-based violence, and physical self-defense training, all within a therapeutic process. It will be implemented with women who have experienced interpersonal trauma (physical, sexual, or emotional abuse/neglect) and experience various mental health difficulties, including suicidal ideation. We aim to assess the feasibility to recruit and implement the BEAR group. Our ultimate aim is to assess whether the program can effect self-efficacy and suicidal ideation.
Detailed description
In the US, approximately 36% of women experience some type of sexual violence in their lifetime. Sexual violence can have a significant and lifelong impact on a women's life, with particularly high rates of mental health issues (e.g., depression, anxiety, PTSD). Women who are sexually assaulted have a three-fold risk of lifetime suicidal ideation and more than a five-fold elevated risk of suicide attempts compared to women who have not been sexually assaulted. Women who are victimized are at higher risk of subsequent sexual victimizations, and with that, worsened well-being and an even higher suicide risk.
Empowerment self-defense (ESD) training has consistently been shown to reduce the risk of both attempted and completed sexual assault by approximately 50%. Survivors of rape who participate in such training demonstrate decreases in PTSD symptoms and self-blame for past assaults. Increases in perceived self-efficacy is one of the positive outcomes of ESD work. Perceived self-efficacy is one's beliefs about their competency and capabilities to perform and is a key factor of how people think, behave, feel, and motivate themselves and how they respond in various situations, including risky or traumatic situations. Higher coping self-efficacy buffers individuals who experience trauma from posttraumatic distress, and separately, higher self-efficacy has been shown to be a protective factor against suicidality in several populations.
The purpose of the current study is to test the feasibility of the Building Empowerment and Resilience (BEAR) program which was adapted for women who have a history of sexual violence and currently endorse suicidal thinking. The Building Empowerment and Resilience-SI (BEAR-SI) Therapeutic program incorporates psychological skills, psychoeducation, and physical self-defense training, all within a therapeutic process. Our experience indicates survivors of sexual violence seek a more active intervention as they often continue to feel quite vulnerable with therapy alone. The program specifically addresses the sequalae of sexual assault and teaches skills for maintaining personal safety and for coping with unwanted thoughts, including suicidal thinking. Our goal is to determine the feasibility of the adapted BEAR program and if it enhances self-efficacy and decreases suicidal thoughts. This is a 12-week, in-person therapy group. We will examine pre- and post-group outcomes, as well as 3- and 12-month follow up.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 1
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| BEAR therapy group | Experimental | Behavioral: BEAR-SIBEAR therapy intervention |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 to 75 years
- Sex
- Female only
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (3 listed)
- Women ages 18-75
- History of physical, sexual, and/or sexual emotional violence, with subsequent interpersonal or psychological distress (e.g., depression or anxiety) related to this history.
- Current suicidal thinking
Key exclusion criteria (7 listed)
- Active, significant substance abuse, which could interfere with participation
- Significant medical conditions that would preclude safe participation in the study
- No history of interpersonal trauma
- Acute psychiatric instability
- History of assaultive behavior or is judged to be a potential risk to assault others.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| BEAR-SIThe BEAR Therapeutic program is a twelve-week group that meets once per week for 1.5 hours per week. The program includes three main components. The first is a psycho-educational component which provides current information about assault statistics, common risk factors, myths that are often associated assault, and safety related information The second component focuses on the development of an assortment of interpersonal skills. This part of the group offers skills such as assertiveness or communication training, boundary setting, and coping skills. The third component of our intervention consists of a thorough set of self-defense skills that help women to keep themselves safe. The repertoire of skills include recognizing unsafe situations, utilizing one's voice, and release from holds. This section provides ample practice blocks, resistance skills, and specific techniques to keep one's self safe. | Behavioural | BEAR therapy group |
Primary outcome
Coping self-efficacy
Time frame: Baseline to 12 weeks (post-group)
This scale ranges from 0-286, with 0 indicating no confidence in managing stressors to 286 indicating very high level of confidence that one could do a particular behavior
Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation
Time frame: Baseline to 12 weeks (post-group)
Assesses amount of suicidal thinking. The total BSS score can range from 0, with no suicidal thinking to 38 points, severe level of suicidal thinking.
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 16 Oct 2026.
- BackgroundHollander, J. A., & Cunningham, J. (2020). Empowerment Self-Defense Training in a Community Population. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 44(2), 187-202. https://doi-org.laneproxy.stanford.edu/10.1177/0361684319897937
- BackgroundSmith, S.G., et al. (2017). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010-2012 State Report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Background: PubMed 29624123Denneson LM, Smolenski DJ, Bauer BW, Dobscha SK, Bush NE. The Mediating Role of Coping Self-Efficacy in Hope Box Use and Suicidal Ideation Severity. Arch Suicide Res. 2019 Apr-Jun;23(2):234-246. doi: 10.1080/13811118.2018.1456383. Epub 2018 Jul 11.
- Background: PubMed 18456241Cieslak R, Benight CC, Caden Lehman V. Coping self-efficacy mediates the effects of negative cognitions on posttraumatic distress. Behav Res Ther. 2008 Jul;46(7):788-98. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2008.03.007. Epub 2008 Mar 18.
- Background: PubMed 32202845Dworkin ER, DeCou CR, Fitzpatrick S. Associations between sexual assault and suicidal thoughts and behavior: A meta-analysis. Psychol Trauma. 2022 Oct;14(7):1208-1211. doi: 10.1037/tra0000570. Epub 2020 Mar 23.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No. This is a pilot study to determine the feasibility of this group. We will be collecting both qualitative and quantitative data on a small group of participants.
Related trials for Interpersonal Trauma
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An Interrupted Time-Series Pilot Trial of LGBTQ-Affirming Cognitive Processing Therapy for Interpersonal and Developmental Trauma
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Trans STAIR: Implementing an Evidence Based Trauma Treatment With Community Led PrEP Navigation
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Jennifer Keller, PhD principal investigator
Stanford University
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing BEAR-SI in people with Interpersonal Trauma and Depression, run by Stanford University at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 7 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 16 Oct 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Coping self-efficacy (time frame: Baseline to 12 weeks (post-group)). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT07346638, which also lists 5 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 16 Oct 2026.