NCT03585127.

Study name	Avatar Therapy in comparison to cognitive behavioral therapy for treatment‐resistant schizophrenia
Methods	Allocation: randomised Blinding: none Duration: 9 weeks Design: parallel Setting: Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
Participants	Diagnosis: people with a auditory hallucination, verbal and treatment‐resistant schizophrenia, DSM‐5 diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder History: participants randomised from waiting list and referred to research staff N = 50 Age: > 18 years Sex: men and women Inclusion criteria: DSM‐5 diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, aged ≥ 18 years Exclusion criteria: any change in medication within the past 2 months, substance‐use disorder within last 12 months, neurological disorder or unstable and serious physical illness, ongoing psychotic episode, cognitive behavioural therapy for psychosis within the last 12 months
Interventions	1. Avatar Therapy: programme for 9 individual and weekly sessions of 1 hour. N= 25 2. Cognitive behavioural therapy: programme for 9 individual and weekly sessions of 1 hour. N= 25
Outcomes	Mental state (binary outcomes) Change in Revised Beliefs About Voices Questionnaire Change in Positive And Negative Syndrome Change in Beck Depression Inventory – II Change in Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire Change in Empowerment scale (Making Decisions) – Revised Short Form Change in Igroup Presence Questionnaire No information: Relapses (binary outcomes) Quality of life (binary outcomes) Costs: cost of services, cost of care Adverse events related to yoga (number and type of injuries) Service outcomes: days in hospital, time attending outpatient psychiatric clinic
Starting date	1 March 2017 Estimated completion date: December 2019
Contact information	alexandre.dumais@umontreal.ca
Notes

DSM‐5: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition; N: number of participants.