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Transdiagnostic and Therapeutic Processes
Symposium

Symposium 24 - Translating Mechanisms and Transdiagnostic Interventions into New Treatments for Misophonia

Friday, June 26, 2026
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM PDT
Location: Yerba Buena Salon 7, B3 Level
CE: 1.5

Keywords: Lived Experience , Treatment , Implementation
Level of Familiarity: Basic to Moderate
Recommended Readings: Dixon, L. J., Schadegg, M. J., Clark, H. L., Sevier, C. J., & Witcraft, S. M. (2024). Prevalence, phenomenology, and impact of misophonia in a nationally representative sample of US adults. Journal of psychopathology and clinical science, 133(5), 403.,   Rosenthal, M. Z., Shan, Y., & Hanna, M. (2026). Misophonia is a newly defined disorder, but Is It an anxiety disorder?Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 22.,   Rosenthal, M. Z., Shan, Y., & Trumbull, J. (2023). Treatment of misophonia. Advances in Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, 3(1), 33-41.,   Smith, E. E., Guzick, A. G., Draper, I. A., Clinger, J., Schneider, S. C., Goodman, W. K., ... & Storch, E. A. (2022). Perceptions of various treatment approaches for adults and children with misophonia. Journal of affective disorders, 316, 76-82.,   Swedo, S. E., Baguley, D. M., Denys, D., Dixon, L. J., Erfanian, M., Fioretti, A., ... & Raver, S. M. (2022). Consensus definition of misophonia: a delphi study. Frontiers in neuroscience, 16, 841816.

Misophonia is characterized by significant impairment in functioning caused by unusually aversive responses to specific sounds, commonly oral or facial and made by others (e.g., eating, throat-clearing, sniffing; Swedo et al., 2022). Population level studies estimate a high prevalence rate for clinically elevated misophonia (4.6% of adults in the US; Dixon et al., 2024) and even higher sub-clinical prevalence (e.g., 12-20% of adults globally). These patients commonly report poor treatment experiences from mental health providers unaware of misophonia that use habituation-based exposure protocols (Smith et al., 2023). Treatments for misophonia need to be developed that account for (a) the high co-occurrence of misophonia with many psychiatric disorders and (b) heterogeneous biopsychosocial processes across problems with emotion regulation, sensory intolerance, maladaptive cognitive processes, and difficulties with interpersonal functioning (e.g., Rosenthal, Shan, and Hanna, 2026). To address these challenges, researchers emphasize integrating multiple methodologies and lived experience stakeholder voices to ensure that new interventions are grounded in real-world needs and supported by strong mechanistic foundations. As a result, cognitive behavioral therapies are at the forefront of treatment development for misophonia (Matteson et al., 2023).

This symposium showcases innovative and state-of-the-field approaches to understanding and treating the complexities of misophonia. Presentations feature scalable cognitive behavioral therapies developed using lived-experience methodologies and laboratory-based mechanistic studies. Symposium speakers are world leading clinical scientists from research programs investigating misophonia at Oxford University, University of Warsaw, and Duke University. Importantly, speakers will highlight how the field uses outreach and science-communication strategies to increase awareness, reduce stigma, and promote equitable and affirming access to care for people with misophonia.

First, Grace Heppes, Outreach and Education Coordinator from the Duke Center for Misophonia and Emotion Regulation will introduce misophonia and share insights from Center projects about ways to translate diverse lived experiences into accessible treatment approaches. Next, Marta Siepsiak will describe qualitative and mixed methods approaches studying lived experience and underlying mechanisms to develop and test a brief group CBT protocol for misophonia. Jane Gregory will describe how the Medical Research Council framework for developing interventions was applied to evaluate a novel CBT approach for misophonia over a 5-year period. Finally, Emily Gates will describe the development and testing of an intervention using machine learning to suppress (using headphones in real-time) semantically targeted sounds (but nothing else) from the natural environment to reduce emotional reactivity. Dr. Rosenthal will serve as the discussant, synthesizing findings to outline a translational roadmap for developing next-generation interventions guided by mechanisms, informed by lived experiences, and designed for equitable and affirming community impact.

Learning Objectives:

  • Identify at least two interventions across cognitive behavioral therapies showing promise for treatment of misophonia
  • Name at least one way that lived experience stakeholders have helped to shape treatment development for misophonia
  • Describe two or more ways outreach and communication strategies are helping increase awareness and access to treatment for people with misophonia

Presentations:

  • 9:06 AM - 9:27 AM PDT
    (SYM 24) Adapting Established Interventions for Treatment of Misophonia: A Case Study Using the Medical Research Council's Framework for Developing and Evaluating Complex Interventions

    Speaker: Jane Gregory, Psy.D. (she/her/hers) – University of Oxford

    Co-Author: Paul Salkovskis, Professor – University of Oxford

    Co-Author: Victoria Bream, DClinPsy – Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

  • 9:27 AM - 9:48 AM PDT
    (SYM 24) Affective Responses to Semantic Sound Suppression in Adults with Misophonia

    Speaker: Emily C. Gates, B.A. (she/her/hers) – Duke University

    Co-Author: Emily C. Gates, B.A. (she/her/hers) – Duke University

    Co-Author: Kolin Lewis, B.A. (he/him/his) – Duke University

    Co-Author: Malek Itani, b.e. (he/him/his) – University of Washington

    Co-Author: shyam Gollakota, Ph.D. (he/him/his) – University of Washington

    Co-Author: M. Zachary Rosenthal, Ph.D. – Duke University Center for Misophonia and Emotion Regulation

  • 9:48 AM - 10:09 AM PDT
    (SYM 24) Disseminating Misophonia Research to Promote Evidence-based Care

    Speaker: Grace A. Heppes, B.S. (she/her/hers) – Duke University

    Co-Author: Grace A. Heppes, B.S. (she/her/hers) – Duke University

    Co-Author: M. Zachary Rosenthal, Ph.D. – Duke University Center for Misophonia and Emotion Regulation

  • 10:09 AM - 10:30 AM PDT
    (SYM 24) Structure and Preliminary Efficacy of an 11-session Online Group Psychotherapy for Individuals with Misophonia

    Speaker: Marta Siepsiak, Ph.D. (she/her/hers) – Faculty of Psychology, University SWPS Warsaw