A client recommended an online intervention to me called Headspace (available here) that they have found useful. I am very enthusiastic about these online cognitive therapy based resources and think they can really complement counseling and psychotherapy. I always recommend such resources to my clients in Tokyo. However, a recent study published in BMJ (available here) had some difficulty in evidencing effectiveness of 2 other wCBT programs (Moodgym and Beating the Blues). Of note, many patients discontinued using the resources during the study and this causes significant methodological problems for the researchers making it difficult to show a clinical effect. Clearly, as with any treatment, a common reason for it not working is the patient not taking it, and this may have compromised the study`s ability to assess the efficacy of the treatments accurately. Other studies have been supportive of these resources and anecdotally many motivated patients find them extremely useful. And they have the added advantage of mostly being free when face-to-face psychological treatments are usually extremely expensive. I will keep recommending them to clients but will keep an eye out for further publications on the evidence base for such resources.
