Treating depression with virtual reality interventions

Depression is a common mental disorder with a large treatment gap. Low-intensity, automated Virtual Reality (VR) interventions (not requiring a therapist) is a scalable and promising solution now that VR is an accessible and mature, consumer technology. Yet unlike with phobias, there have been few attempts at translating evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapeutic (CBT) techniques for … Läs mer!

The efficacy of app‐supported smartphone interventions for mental health problems: a meta‐analysis

Today we published a new paper in World Psychiatry (impact factor = 34). Although impressive progress has been made toward developing empirically‐supported psychological treatments, the reality remains that a significant proportion of people with mental health problems do not receive these treatments. Finding ways to reduce this treatment gap is crucial. Since app‐supported smartphone interventions … Läs mer!

4,2 miljoner Hong Kong dollar

hong kong baptist university

Mitt besök i Hong Kong har burit frukt! År 2016 blev jag inbjuden att hålla en keynote på “Asia Mental Health Conference” om psykologisk behandling via internet (se den snygga och färgglada konferenspostern nedan!). Det fanns ett stort intresse för ämnet och forskare vid Hong Kong Baptist University föreslog att vi skulle söka forskningspengar tillsammans.  Idag fick … Läs mer!

NOK 5.7 million to research on internet-delivered treatments for depressed adolescents

The Kavli Trust awards NOK 5.7 million to research on internet-delivered psychological treatments for adolescents with depression. They write: The need of development of early, short and focused interventions for depressed adolescents is urgent. Internet-based interventions are designed to increase access to psychological treatments and cost-effectiveness. The main aim of the project is to develop a new … Läs mer!

Internet-based vs. face-to-face cognitive behavior therapy for psychiatric and somatic disorders: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.

In 2014 we published a first study investigating the relative effects of Internet-based vs. face-to-face cognitive behavior therapy. The study was picked up by the Wall Street Journal During the last two decades, Internet-delivered cognitive behavior therapy (ICBT) has been tested in hundreds of randomized controlled trials, often with promising results. However, the control groups … Läs mer!

Individually tailored internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy for older adults with anxiety and depression

Mixed anxiety and depression is common among older adults (those 60 years and older). Internet-supported cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) has been tested for a range of conditions, and one approach is to tailor the treatment according to each client’s symptoms and preferences. The aim of the study was to compare the effects of an eight-week-long … Läs mer!

Blended therapy: A computer-supported psychoeducational group intervention for adults with depressive symptoms

Blended interventions aim to capitalise on the strengths of both computer-based and face-to-face therapy. Studies on this innovative treatment format remain scare. This especially accounts for the group treatment of depression. In the present study, that was just published, we applied eclectic psychotherapy methods to an adult sample exhibiting a variety of depressive symptoms (N = 46). … Läs mer!

Gruppterapi med multimediastöd vid depression ger lovande resultat

”Blended therapy”, blandad terapi, är en form av behandlingsupplägg som utforskats allt mer på senare tid. Det som menas med ”blandad” är att behandlingen blandar klassisk psykoterapi där terapeut och patient möts ansikte mot ansikte med behandlingsinslag via dator (eller exempelvis smartphone). Forskningsresultaten är lovande – man har exempelvis sett god behandlingseffekt och patienttillfredsställelse och … Läs mer!

Behavioral Activation vs. Physical Activity: A Randomized Controlled Trial

In a new study that was accepted today we had randomized 286 participants with major depression into one of five conditions. 1) physical activity without a treatment rational, 2) physical activity with a treatment rational, 3) Lewinshon’s model of behavioral activation, 4) Martell’s model of behavioral activation, or 5) wait-list control. All groups (including the … Läs mer!