How Online Therapy Can Support Your Mental Health

If you’re anxious about your health and are still sheltering in place(-ish), you may not need to see a therapist in the flesh: A study published in JAMA Psychiatry found that internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helped patients manage fear and anxiety just as well as a 45-minute in-person session by using a self-guided instructional book combined with weekly 10-minute therapy sessions conducted on a secure platform.

“Therapist-guided online CBT is based on the same strategies and exercises [as in person therapy], and patients can interact with the treatment content at any time of day,” says lead author Erland Axelsson, Ph.D., licensed psychologist at Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden. And because health anxiety is similar in nature to other forms of anxiety, Axelsson believes it also could apply
to a broader population.