A little discussed effect of therapy: it changes personality (2017)

Re:A little discussed effect of therapy: it changes personal... by jdietrich on Wednesday May 08, 2019 @11:17AM (#19859598)

The evidence is fairly clear - reading self-help books or using an internet-based CBT programme is similarly effective to in-person psychotherapy. That doesn't mean that these approaches will be effective for you, but they're viable treatment options that are vastly more accessible. I'd still suggest trying in-person therapy if it's available to you, but don't be disheartened if that isn't an option - there's no evidence to suggest that self-help is significantly inferior to therapy.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2018.01.001

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.09.006

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Re:A little discussed effect of therapy: it changes personal... by nickbarnwell on Wednesday May 08, 2019 @11:19PM (#19865078)

> reading self-help books…is similarly effective to in-person psychotherapy

That was not the outcome of the CPR paper, and even the authors' statement in the abstract is considerably more hedged than you imply here.

iCBT and bibliotherapy have both demonstrated the greatest efficact in subclinical or extremely high functioning populations; their utility in more severe cases or those where there are comorbid psychiatric or bio-social issues is less clear.

I absolutely believe in using telehealth to broaden access to behavioural health services and think they're an excellent first line treatment, but stating there's nothing to suggest that they're a fungible good with equivalent value to human-delivered psychotherapy risks dissuading people who're already struggling and fail to improve with self-guided resources from seeking out more comprehensive services.

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