BBC NEWS | Health | Web psychotherapy 'just as good' (as face to face counseling)

Link: BBC NEWS | Health | Web psychotherapy 'just as good'.

On the BBC today,"Web psychotherapy 'just as good'" Here is an excerpt:

Web psychotherapy 'just as good' Some people may benefit from web-based advice Therapy delivered via the internet is just as good as face-to-face sessions for treating depression, say Swedish researchers.

Web-based programmes could help counteract the current shortage of skilled therapists, they say. Cognitive behavioural therapy, the focus of the study, helps a person to change how they think and what they do to improve state of mind. The research is published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

A bit furthur in the article comes this excerpt:

The success of the web-based self-help programme was the same as that seen in past studies of face-to-face therapy, and was much more effective than the internet group therapy on its own. The self-help programme resulted in decreased depressive symptoms immediately after treatment and at the six-month follow-up, the researchers found.

Lead researcher Professor Gerhard Andersson, from Linköping University, said: "Benefits were also observed regarding anxiety symptoms and quality of life. Self-help treatment of depression is an attractive treatment option."

He said such internet-based therapy options should be pursued further as a complement or alternative to conventional treatment methods

Read the rest of this on BBC Health. Post came via TechDirt.