Sarah comments: “If you’re suffering from depression or have an anxiety disorder it can take a supreme effort to attend face-to-face appointments in a clinic – especially if living in a remote area or you do not have access to transport.
“Communicating through written social media is familiar to many people these days, so our unique system of online instant messaging within a secure environment provides a very effective way for a therapist to provide CBT and create a good collaborative relationship with the client.
“We have found that using text-based dialogue is particularly beneficial. It creates an opportunity for the person to reflect on situations as they are written down and this helps get to the root of the problem more quickly. People often have ‘light bulb’-type realisations during CBT when they see how to change their behaviours, but this can be transient. With a downloadable transcript it is possible to go back over the session later to regain that benefit.”
PsychologyOnline has been adopted by several NHS commissioning groups as a way of offering patients choice and flexibility in the way their therapy is delivered and this is proving very successful.
Current PsychologyOnline contracts are showing recovery rates from mild to severe mental health problems of 60-70%, achieved with 40% fewer sessions than would have been expected with traditional talking therapies. Comparatively, traditional talking therapies are demonstrating recovery rates of 40-50%.
Scheduled appointments with PsychologyOnline are available seven days a week, at any time of day including evenings and weekends. More than half of patients are choosing to have their appointments on weekday evenings.
The RSM summit will also focus on other approaches to support for people feeling isolated and depressed. Esther Rantzen CBE will talk about The Silver Line, a free confidential telephone helpline offering information, friendship and advice to older people in the UK. Jen Hyatt, founder and chief executive of the Big White Wall, will describe how this digital healthcare service offers a social online forum for accessing mental wellbeing resources.
For more information about the entrepreneurs and innovators presenting at the RSM Medical Innovations Summit please visit www.rsm.ac.uk/innovations/ where you can also register for the event free of charge.
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