Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy for Prediabetes

Prediabetes is a clinical condition in which hemoglobin A1C is between 5.6 and 6.4, and is usually associated with being overweight, poor diet, limited exercise, and psychological stress. This condition develops in to Type II diabetes in many people, and interventions to prevent such progression are needed. Because stress can directly negative impact blood glucose metabolism and can indirectly affect it through unhealthy behaviors (e.g., diet, exercise), it may be possible to reduce stress and improve clinical outcomes. Although most stress management approaches help people to calm their physiology and reduce their negative emotions, another approach to stress treatment is to help people disclose emotionally difficult experiences, become aware of and express their emotions, and change interpersonal relationships by becoming more assertive as well as more open/connected. Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET) is an approach to stress reduction that uses these principles and it has been shown to be effective for somatic symptom disorders like chronic pain. In this study, we will adapt EAET to the prediabetes context and test its feasibility, acceptability and initial efficacy.