2025: A Year Together

On behalf of the CMER team, thank you to everyone who supported the work we do to help people with misophonia and their loved ones in 2025. This year, we continued to advance our mission as global leaders in research, education, advocacy, and clinical services for misophonia. It was a busy and fulfilling year. We helped patients from around the US, provided free education to  parents, loved ones, and clinicians, listened to countless lived experiences to help us continually refine our understanding of misophonia, trained high school students to become the next wave of clinicians and scientists focusing on misophonia, and partnered with other organizations to help give voice to stakeholders across the field on CARE Day, at the Misophonia Collaboration Forum, through LEARN, and on our webinar series. Oh, and we did research studies. A lot of them. Our research expanded this year to systematically understand the lived experiences of misophonia, gauge awareness of misophonia among healthcare providers and the public, estimate the prevalence of misophonia in the US, examine longitudinal predictors of misophonia from childhood, understand daily fluctuations in emotions and coping, explore the role of adverse childhood events and misophonia, and to broadly examine the nature and features defining this disorder. We have many papers coming soon on all these things. What about treatment approaches? In 2025, CMER investigators continued to help push the field forward with work investigating the possible use of treatment models using brain stimulation, process-based flexible psychotherapy, and AI-driven trigger suppression via headphones. The CMER team added new collaborators, students, and funding for innovative projects. We are very excited about what’s next for all of this work in 2026. We are extremely grateful to those who generously helped to fund this work. Big or small, your financial support is the gas that makes the CMER engine run. Everything we do to accelerate knowledge, advocacy, and treatment for misophonia is made possible by your generosity. Happy holidays to all, and we look forward to seeing you or hearing from you soon!

Our 3^rd year PhD student, Yanyan Shan, led "Network analysis of misophonia symptoms using the Duke Misophonia Questionnaire". Results showed the DMQ Impairment subscale to be most central in the network for both males and females, although females reported more severe cognitive and physiological symptoms. This study suggests it may be helpful to prioritize these symptoms during assessment and intervention.

Matt Hanna, our 4th year PhD student, led another network analysis. "Examining the role of emotion regulation, anger, and anxiety in misophonia: A network model" emphasized the role of nonacceptance, emotional awareness, anger, and anxiety in misophonia severity. These findings suggest interventions targeting nonacceptance, anger, and anxiety may be helpful for those with misophonia.

This year, our team has been working to address the following topics in our research:

• Should misophonia be classified as an anxiety disorder?

• Understanding temporal changes in misophonia symptoms in everyday settings

• Differentiating misophonia from other decreased sound tolerance disorders

• Italian and Mandarin adaptations of the Duke Misophonia Questionnaire (DMQ)

• Proposing a model of misophonia focusing on sensory processing and emotion regulation

• Lived experience of raising a child with misophonia

• Variability of the lived experience among adults

• Awareness of misophonia among physician assistant students and faculty

• Understanding perspectives from occupational therapists about misophonia

• Neuroimaging of misophonia patients

• Neurostimulation as possible new treatment

• Prevalence and awareness of misophonia in the United States

• Exploring the nature and features of misophonia in China

• Proof of concept study for an AI-based platform to suppress trigger sounds

• Continued development of Process-Based Therapy for Misophonia

Collaboration Receives Funding

In the Misophonia Research Fund (MRF) 2025 grant cycle, Dr. Shyam Gollakota was one of the eight recipients of the Research Impact Award. Dr. Gollakota and his team at University of Washington are developing a sound suppression system to integrate into noise-cancelling headphones, allowing trigger sounds to be reduced in real time. 

The Duke CMER team will assist with study design, recruitment, data collection, manuscript preparation, and dissemination of results. In addition, we will provide support and guidance about protection of human participants and emotional distress throughout the study duration. 

Dedication to Exploring Lived Experience

The lived experience perspective is extremely valuable in better understanding misophonia. We prioritize bringing those voices to light in our research studies. This year, several of our studies took a deeper dive into these perspectives:

• Kelly Molthrop, a CMER Undergraduate Research Assistant, surveyed caregivers of children with misophonia experiencing financial strain to better understand their lived experiences. 

• Emily Gates, our Clinical Research Coordinator, led the Center in a qualitative lived experience study for adults and loved ones in the United States. The study allowed us to explore the etiological variability of those with misophonia.

• Dr. Marta Siepsiak, a former Visiting Scholar and close collaborator, conducted a study interviewing people affected by misophonia in Poland.

Guiding the Next Generation of Researchers

This year, we hosted the first Prospective Researchers Investigating Misophonia and Emotion Regulation (PRIMER) Summer Workshop for high school students. High school students from around the United States and a student from the United Arab Emirates joined us via Zoom for a 3-day workshop to gain foundational knowledge of the science of misophonia, conduct of human research, and project development. It was exciting and invigorating to train the next generation of misophonia researchers and give them the confidence and knowledge to help achieve their dreams.

"The most valuable part of the workshop was being surrounded by a community of people who understood or had interest in understanding the weight of such a complicated and surprisingly common disorder. I felt entirely seen, and I value that I was able to participate in something so positive regarding misophonia." - Workshop Student

Save the date for PRIMER 2026: Wednesday, July 22nd-Friday, July 24th, 2026, 11am-2pm ET

We are honored to have three Duke University Clinical Psychology PhD students on our team. Yanyan Shan, Matt Hanna, and Kolin Lewis are excited to make an impact and develop new ways to help people with misophonia. Click on their names to learn more about Yanyan, Matt, and Kolin.

Learning in the Clinic

Invaluable insights are gained every day that our providers are in the clinic with misophonia patients. Our team has taken strides through patient feedback in the clinic to develop a manual for our Center's treatment, Process-Based Therapy for Misophonia (PBT-M). PBT-M is an individualized, evidence-based, transdiagnostic approach to helping those with misophonia live their lives with less impairment. We plan to test this method in a randomized control trial in 2026. We look forward to sharing our clinical protocol and findings once we finalize the manual and complete this study. 

Although there is no cure for all people with misophonia, there are treatments and coping strategies that may help. These include evidence-based, transdiagnostic treatments delivered by professionals in a personalized and flexible way organized around each patient's needs.

Continued Research Investigating Neurostimulation

Dr. Andrada Neacsiu and her team are leading the testing of the efficacy of a neurostimulation intervention for misophonia. Preliminary results are promising, and we look forward to sharing their work upon publication. 

Educating Clinicians

Our Director, Dr. Zach Rosenthal, was honored to present to several different organizations around the world this year to educate their members:

• American Counseling Association (ACA)

• Durham Veteran Affairs (VA)

• Louisiana American Academy of Pediatrics Chapter

• European Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (EABCT) Annual Congress

• North Carolina School Counselor Association

In addition, thanks to generous funding from the Brown Family, we were able to provide free, 1-hour education meetings for clinicians around the world interested in best practices for treating misophonia. 

Amplifying Lived Experience Voices

This year, we hosted the first Lived Experience Advocating for Research Needed (LEARN) About Misophonia Webinar. This event allowed those with misophonia and their loved ones to share their priorities for the future of the misophonia field. These insights inspired new projects both in and outside of Duke CMER. We were very inspired by the power of community we experienced. To read a summary of the insights, click here. 

We also were honored to join Drs. Jane Gregory, Tom Graham, and Marta Siepsiak in presenting a symposium and a clinical workshop at the EABCT Annual Congress in Glasgow, Scotland. During the symposium, our Outreach and Education Coordinator, Grace Heppes, presented what clinicians need to better understand about the lived experience of misophonia based on her daily interactions with families and her own lived experience. The next day, a segment of the clinical workshop was dedicated to learning from experts by experience. Grace, Dr. Siepsiak, and Kellyanne McFadyen shared their stories and answered questions from the clinicians attending the workshop. 

Disseminating Research & Generating Hope

This August, we co-hosted the 3rd annual Conversations About Research for Everyone (CARE) for Misophonia Day with soQuiet and the Misophonia Research Network. CARE for Misophonia Day is a free, all-day, virtual event where researchers present their work from the past year in a way everyone can understand. We were excited to have over 1,000 people from x countries registered. Many people reported that CARE Day positively impacted them. Thank you to the following researchers for presenting their work:

• Dr. Andrew Guzick

• Dr. Prashanth Prabhu

• Dr. Laurie Heller

• Dr. Laura Dixon

• Dr. Adam Lewin

Actor Melissa Gilbert, best known for her role of Laura Ingalls Wilder on "Little House on the Prairie", joined us at CARE for Misophonia Day to share a message of hope. She shared her successful experience with treatment and how she is able to live a more fulfilling life.

To view the recordings from CARE for Misophonia Day 2025, visit here. 

Supporting Families

Generous funding from anonymous families allows us to have free, 1-hour educational meetings with families affected by misophonia. This year, we frequently met with families from around the world to educate them on misophonia and best practices to move forward with treatment. We have supported countless more through daily communications on various platforms. 

ICD-10 C&M/ICD-11 Proposal Update

Last year, we were part of a team who proposed misophonia as a new diagnostic code in the ICD-10 C&M and ICD-11. We are hopeful the proposal will be reviewed at an upcoming ICD-10 C&M Meeting. 

If the proposal is accepted, the ability to formally diagnose Misophonia would increase physician and healthcare provider awareness of Misophonia and allow them to bill payers (e.g., insurance) when providing clinical services for people with Misophonia.

To read the full proposal, visit here. You must register/log in to view the proposal.

We continue to collaborate with researchers, clinicians, and advocates around the world to help build a future where misophonia is recognized internationally. 

Our next CMER Quarterly Webinar, “2025: Year in Review”, with Dr. Zach Rosenthal will take place on Wednesday, January 14th, 7-8pm ET. 

Our Director, Dr. Zach Rosenthal, will reveal Duke CMER perspectives on the top 10 advancements for misophonia in 2025. 

Registration is free and required to attend. 

Register Now!

Our work this year would not have been possible without YOU. We are especially grateful to the Brown Family and an anonymous family that have been longstanding supporters for their exceptionally generous contributions. Every donation, regardless of size, plays a vital role in helping us move closer to our vision: a future in which clinicians around the world deliver evidence-based care and support to individuals with misophonia. If you would like to support our mission, please visit Make a Gift to Duke CMER. 

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