E-Therapy

This is use of current technology such as internet, applications, and short message services among others to deliver mental health counseling. This method enables clients to access guidance and counseling services from a far distance by use of network and internet service. The service therefore utilize a number of technology services such as video chatting, text and audio messaging among others. It supplements the in-office therapy. Most of the people who cannot make time to get the service from the office gets an option that enables them to consult a counselor.

Researchers have conducted a number of tests to determine the effectiveness of use of technology in prevention of psychiatric problems and other technology-enabled therapies. They have used Randomized Controlled Trials also known as RTC to test the efficacy of these methods. For the initial survey, they selected a team of 163 students from the university. They wanted to ascertain that these methods can actually help to prevent depression. Part of this group of students was assigned a five week of unassisted E-Therapy. The other group was used as the control to the experiment. At the end of the study, the students who were subjected to the E-Therapy showed a significant less depression signs. They also shown an improved literacy about depression. The group that was not assigned to the E-Therapy showed a high rate of dropout as compared to the other members (46 compared to 28%) (Lintvedt, Griffiths ,& Sorensen K,  2013).

There has been other studies that have been conducted by different groups in support of Virtual Realty Exposure also known as VRET. These studies show that the VRET helps in treatment of public speaking anxiety as well as the social anxiety disorder. In this study, the teams selected 41 people to be used as a sample. These 41 people with social anxiety disorder were subjected to four full sessions of cognitive restructuring. The sessions were later followed by a virtual sessions that were targeting the common social fear such as a large auditorium and conference rooms. The group that was subjected to the virtual study outperformed the one that did not participate (Price, Mehta, & Tone, 2011). The outcome was similar with the one of the groups that were used to compare VTET to CBT in public speaking anxiety treatment. The group was given a chance to give a public speech in front of 10 judges after completing the VRET sessions. These group recorded great improvement in public speaking anxiety (Anderson, Zimand, & Hodges, 2007).

Short message service (SMS) is another platform used in E-Therapy. This is because it helps in quick delivering of interventional messages. It also helps in reminding the clients about their health goals, their pending appointments and their therapy homework (Klasnja, & Pratt, 2012). A preliminary research was carried out to investigate the contribution of SMS in treatment of psychotic disorders and other conditions such as depression. In this research, 54 people were used as a sample. These people were picked at random from a group of people suffering from comorbid alcohol disorder. These people were divided into two groups. One group received two SMS with a supportive message every day (N=26). The other group received a thank you message after 14 days (N=28). After three months, the first group had a significant improvement on their mental health compared to the group that was receiving the message after two weeks (Agyapong, Ahern, & McLoughlin, 2012).