Integrated cognitive‑behavioral therapy for veterans with anxiety and risky drinking
Official title: Addressing Mental Health Comorbidities: Integrated CBT to Improve Functioning in Veterans with Co-Occurring Anxiety and Substance Use
Funded at Michael E Debakey VA Medical Center · NIH-11220700 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project offers a combined cognitive‑behavioral therapy to help deployed veterans who have both anxiety and hazardous drinking improve their day‑to‑day functioning and quality of life.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Michael E Debakey VA Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Houston, United States) |
| Project start | October 1, 2021 |
| Project end | September 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| NIH project number | 5IK2RX003520-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11220700 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are deployed veterans who are experiencing an anxiety disorder (including PTSD) together with hazardous or risky alcohol use.
✕Less likely to help
People who do not have both significant anxiety and hazardous drinking, those with active untreated psychosis or medical instability, or those unwilling to participate in CBT are unlikely to benefit from this program.
What this research studies
You would be offered a unified, transdiagnostic form of cognitive‑behavioral therapy that targets both anxiety symptoms and hazardous drinking at the same time. The approach adapts the Unified Protocol to meet the needs of deployed veterans and focuses on emotional skills, coping strategies, and reducing alcohol‑related harms. Therapy is delivered through VA clinical services so you would work with trained providers rather than navigating separate clinics for each problem. The goal is to make treatment more efficient and to help you return to better work, family, and social functioning.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this combined therapy could reduce anxiety and risky drinking and improve everyday functioning and relationships for deployed veterans.
How similar studies have gone: Cognitive‑behavioral therapy and the Unified Protocol have shown benefits for emotional disorders, and CBT has helped with substance use, but applying a combined Unified Protocol specifically for deployed veterans with co‑occurring anxiety and hazardous drinking is a more recent approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Michael E Debakey VA Medical Center
Houston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ecker, Anthony — Michael E Debakey VA Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Ecker, Anthony
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.