A project through the University of Regina is bringing therapy services into the living room, and they're looking for more people to give the service a try.
The three-year project led by Dr. Heather Hadjistavropoulos, a psychologist at the U of R, is entering its second half and they are accepting applications from across the province to take part in the roughly 12-week process. Those who do become clients work through 12 modules on the program's website and exchange weekly e-mails with their therapists.
Marcie Nugent, online therapy co-ordinator, said the research project is based on programs originating from the Swinburne University of Technology in Australia. It's now part of the National eTherapy Centre there.
"They've integrated it to be part of their health-care system. We're not sure if folks will respond the same here," Nugent said. That's what they're going to find out.
The Online Therapy Unit for Service Education and Research (USER) is the name of the new health unit that is designed to provide cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) through trained therapists. The program has received $500,000 over three years from the Saskatchewan Health Research Fund and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
The program is partnered with the programs in Australia, and it is pursued here largely due to a "personal interest" of Hadjistavropoulos's, said Nugent.
Online sessions can be beneficial for a number of reasons. Nugent said most importantly it is convenient because the client and therapist do not have to be logged in at the same time.
"It's for people who work during the day, and the service is (typically) provided during the day. (The online therapy) allows people to do it at anytime," she said, adding that if 2 a.m. is the best time to contact your therapist, you can send an e-mail and they can respond when it suits them.
She said clients can send as many e-mails as they want to their therapist, but they will usually get a response once per week.
Geography also plays a role in whether or not the program is found to be helpful. In a province like Saskatchewan, where some services are spread out, taking therapy sessions online would cut down on travel time if there isn't a service readily available in one's community.
Since it started in June 2010, 91 people have entered into the pilot project. Most have completed the 12 modules and about 30 are currently receiving treatment. For those who have completed the program, there is a follow-up, so their therapist will check in on them to see how they are progressing.
Individuals who have completed the program have also been able to give feedback on the program, which has so far been favourable.
"All the feedback is very positive. If it continues then we'll be looking at a very positive outcome," said Nugent.
The 37 active therapists were trained specifically on how to use online CBT, and are either clinical psychology doctoral students or mental health therapists in the Regina Qu'Appelle and Five Hills Health Regions.
There is separate training for online therapy, but Nugent said it is very similar to face-to-face counselling.
"It's really translating skills into print. All the therapists have been trained to be in person. This is training for a different modality."
Those who would like to try the therapy sessions are asked to contact Nugent at 306-337-3331 or by e-mailing [email protected]. An interview will be done over the phone to find individual eligibility. They will be accepting clients to 2013.
