EASE + UP - Adolescents 12-17

STUDY BASICS

Does your child want help understanding their emotions or are they struggling? We are testing two mental health therapies, Emotion Awareness and Skills Enhancement (EASE) and Unified Protocol (UP). Both programs teach skills to help understand and process emotions, and both involve 16-20 weekly therapy sessions. Compensation is provided.

STUDY PURPOSE

We are testing two mental health therapies, Emotion Awareness and Skills Enhancement (EASE) and Unified Protocol (UP). Both programs teach skills to help understand and process emotions. They both use an affirming approach that encourages personal development, and both involve 16-20 weekly therapy sessions. EASE is a mindfulness-based program that was specifically designed for autistic people. UP is a highly customizable cognitive-behavioral based program that meets the needs of people with a variety of diagnoses. Our goal is to find out which program is more helpful for autistic people.

COULD THIS STUDY BE RIGHT FOR YOUR CHILD?

• We are looking for autistic teens ages 12-17 who want to strengthen their emotion regulation skills.
• The study is open to people with a range of communication abilities. Participants must be able to assent to the study themselves and answer questions about themselves.
• You would also need to answer questions about them.
• Participants must live in Alabama or Pennsylvania

WHAT PARTICIPANTS CAN EXPECT

• Your child would be assigned to one of two therapy programs
• Your child would attend 16-20 weekly therapy sessions, which can be in-person or telehealth with providers from our partnering community agencies 
• Your child would complete interviews before and after therapy
• You and your child would complete surveys before therapy, half way through therapy, after therapy and three months after finishing therapy