Provide a critical analysis of online therapeutic interventions for mental distress

Essay Instructions:

In this essay, you can use your understanding of approaches to mental health interventions and apply it in online settings. You should choose interventions that have been employed online. Focus on one formof mental distress (e.g., depression/anxiety; psychosis/schizophrenia, eating disorders, PTSD, etc) and find literature on online interventions (e.g., CBT, EMDR, ACT, Social media interventions) that have targeted your chosen topic. Most intervention approaches contain several different types of techniques (e.g., CBT could be cognitive restructuring; psycho-education; behavioural activation etc). You can discuss just one of the techniques or choose more than one if it is appropriate for your topic. The idea here is that you demonstrate knowledge of online interventions for a specific type of mental distress- it is up to you what interventions discuss here. You should make sure that you provide a full evaluation of the literature whilst keeping within the word count. Please keep in mind that the focus is on online interventions- you will lose marks if you do not discuss these. You can choose interventions that were considered during the teaching weeks, or ideas from outside the teaching. The length should be no more than 2000 words (-/+10%, including in-text references/excluding the reference list). Structure Introduction (300-500 words): Write an introductory paragraph outlining the characteristics and importance of the online intervention in your specific area of mental distress. This section should be based on literature (remember to use references here!). Use your own judgement in deciding how to introduce the topic- there are several ways of doing this. It is a good idea to read several journal articles that outline intervention evaluations, and consciously pay attention to the diverse ways in how the introduction could be organised. Remember to avoid descriptive writing (e.g., describing what depression is, or describing what CBT is). The introduction should be clearly focussed around why/how a specific type of intervention for a specific type of mental distress is relevant/important in an online setting. Main body: The main body of the writing should be organised into well-structured paragraphs, where each paragraph contains a clear evaluation of a topic (e.g., evidence for effectiveness) or an argument (e.g., the intervention is not accessible to all demographics). The main body should utilise recent literature in evaluating the effectiveness of the intervention. When you evaluate the effectiveness, you should also write critically about how it has been measured. For example, do the studies use psychometric measurements of before/after? Can you think of critique for the assessment of effectiveness? In addition, you should have a paragraph for evaluating ethical issues, as well as one for discussing at least one intersectional issue. You should also discuss one additional topic (such as adherence, retention, suitability, accessibility, working alliance). This list is not exhaustive- what you decide to include largely depends on the research that has been conducted on your specific topic. Conclusion: You should have a brief conclusion. What does the evidence suggest about the online intervention- is it effective, suitable, inclusive, ethical, etc. Remember to bring together YOUR evaluation from the main body, rather than introduce new topics. Pros and Cons: At the end, have bullet points for two Pros and two Cons for the online intervention

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Title Your Name Subject and Section Professor’s Name Date Introduction The coming of online mental health interventions has revolutionized the realm of psychological help. The need for these interventions has risen in parallel with technological progress, as they provide benefits that often cannot be provided by face-to-face therapy (Axelsson et al., 2020). Another benefit of web-based programs is that they are accessible to patients who cannot quickly attend traditional therapy sessions because of geographical, financial, or physical limitations (Hofmann & Gómez, 2017). Moreover, therapy is more flexible because the internet creates an accessible platform for people to access therapeutic materials without being heavily dependent on the presence of a therapist (Kambeitz-Ilankovic et al., 2022). Another significant advantage is the scalability of online interventions, which can reach vast quantities of consumers simultaneously and, therefore, increase the accessibility of mental health care without a linear correlation with costs (Ogino et al., 2024). Anxiety disorders represent some of the most frequent mental health disorders in the world, affecting millions of people of different ages and origins (World Health Organization, 2023). Given the prevalence of anxiety, more efficient and approachable notions are needed. MBIs have been used widely due to their effectiveness in the treatment of anxiety. Some of these therapies are Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and all of them are grounded on the concept of mindfulness, which was described by Hofmann & Gómez (2017) as the act of being conscious of the present time and situation without making any judgment. The availability of technology and delivery of mental health services has also been enhanced due to the current COVID-19 -19, which has affected almost every part of the world; hence, it made people get services remotely since contacts were restricted (Stefan et al., 2021). This transition has shed light on the need to have adequate online therapy for mental-related illnesses to be implemented in online platforms (Witarto et al., 2022). Online MBIs have become a convincing intervention in this regard, for it is now feasible to do anxiety self-management using intervention with origins in empirical research by way of the online medium. These interventions are also used as a therapeutic procedure, and when the possibility of a proper therapy environment is unavailable, individual sessions are allowed (Young et al., 2023; Zhang et al., 2021). The ability to provide techniques designed to directly impact the present of anxiety and other needs for mental support through the web has been arguably vital through, into, and past the post-contagion era in proving the continuous usefulness of online MBIs in present-century mental health care per se (Young et al., 2023). Effectiveness of Online Mindfulness-Based Interventions Overview of Online MBIs Many MBIs, such as MBSR and MBCT, have shown that it is possible to maintain the core of mindfulness and the actual delivery of the intervention online (Kraines et al., 2022). Entailing guided meditation, multimedia, “live” presentations and online group talks, these MBIs can be executed through websites or applications. These kinds of programs are structurally like face-to-face programs and entail regular skills rehearsal regarding mindfulness and homework assignments in matters of mindfulness. Therefore, These interventions have been enacted in flexible manners when delivered and participated and seem to reflect people's general availability and location (Hofmann & Gómez, 2017; Ogino et al., 2024). Evidence of Effectiveness There are findings from several analysis works that corroborate the notion that online MBIs significantly reduce anxiety symptoms. For instance, in a study of mindfulness-based online intervention programs, Ogino et al. (2024) established that mental health and well-being levels rose as anxiety levels declined. Similarly, Zhang et al. (2021), in their systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs, further affirmed that internet-based MBIs were effective at reducing anxiety symptoms, and their effectiveness spanned samples of patients. These studies used sound research methods, including the comparative assessment of the participants' anxiety status before and after the intervention, which was done by administering standardized anxiety rating scales and psychometric tests. Other reports described a considerable increase in the decrease of anxiety scores and the enhancement of subjects’ well-being, thus underlining the effectiveness of online MBIs for patients with anxiety (Witarto, Y. et al., 2022; Young, C.M. et al., 2023). Witarto et al. (2022) conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis when the COVID-19 pandemic was still happening, intending to establish online MBIs' efficacy in improving mental well-being. Such studies established that online MBIs were successful in reducing the participant's anxiety, which provided a foundation for the application of such therapeutic interventions, particularly where further direct therapeutic sessions become impracticable. As mentioned, randomized controlled trials, the application of which is obligatory when it comes to the analysis of the results and the manipulation of different psychometric tools, prove the validity of the statements and once again stress that practicing online MBIs leads to the minimization of anxiety levels. In a randomized controlled trial by Young et al. (2023), self-administered and low-intensity MBI for university students with anxiety during the COVID-19 era that spanned three months, the study found elevated levels of change in the anxiety and psychological health of the enlisted subjects. The follow-up data provided even more evidence of the existence of these benefits, which points to the successful application of online MBIs for treating anxiety. This study thus offers empirical support for what has so far been assumed that online interventions can still be effectively used in ...

Updated on October 24, 2024

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