Analysis of an online structured cognitive – behavioural psychotherapy program

Abstract

Introduction: Taking into account the need to cover an increasingly demand for mental health services, a number of solutions have emerged, including the use of the Internet. Online psychotherapy is an important subject for recent research. There are numerous studies on this topic and numerous research groups that have addressed different aspects of online psychotherapy, both in terms of performance and efficiency, making it a valuable tool for mental health services. Taking all this into consideration, our research analyzed the response of a group of subjects to a structured online psychotherapy program. Objective: We analyzed the responses to online psychotherapy and a structured cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy program (Gândește Sănătos – Think Healthy) of Romanian population for a period of 18 months in a private practice in Romania and compared the results. Method: We conducted an observational study which included all the clients who performed psychotherapy in our office. We compared the results for the four forms of delivery of psychotherapy (classical face-to-face meetings, video conferencing via Skype, psychotherapy through the Think Healthy platform with face-to-face or Skype sessions) which allowed us to examine how online cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy influences patients' outcomes. Results: Our results confirmed that the group that opted for the Think Healthy platform with both face-to-face or Skype sessions, has had better results at the end of psychotherapy.