Study: web-based psychotherapy as effective as face-to-face consultations SCIENCE 31 JULY 13 by OLIVIA SOLON Shutterstock Online psychotherapy -- where patients carried out a series of writing assignments without ever seeing a therapist -- has been found to be as effective as conventional therapy by clinical researchers at the University of Zurich. Some 62 depressed patients were given cognitive behavioural therapy over an eight-week period. Half of them were given an hour of one-on-one interaction with a therapist each week, with some take-home assignments (such as logging negative thoughts). The other half followed a web-based therapy programme, consisting of writing assignments (such as exploring their own negative self-image), which were given written feedback from a therapist who knew their name, but had no video chat interactions. The team had assumed that the two forms of therapy were on a par. Three months after the end of the therapy, the results for online therapy exceeded expectations: those patients given online treatments displayed fewer symptoms. Professor Andreas Maercker explained that depression values fell "significantly" in both groups. 53 percent of the patients who had online therapy no longer showed signs of depression after treatment, compared to 50 percent of those who had face-to-face therapy. Three months after treatment, depression of the patients treated online actually decreased further, with 57 percent of patients no longer showing signs of depression, compared with 42 percent of patients who had conventional therapy. Both patient groups were highly satisfied with the treatment and therapists, but those treated online tended to take the correspondence with therapists and associated homework very seriously, with many re-reading the assignments and notes. Our study is evidence that psychotherapeutic services on the internet are an effective supplement to therapeutic care," concludes Maercker. You can read the full study in Journal of Affective Disorders START THE CONVERSATION
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 12:06:30 +0000
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