Use of self-help materials for anxiety and depression in mental health services: A national survey of psychologists in Norway.

Abstract

How do psychologists in clinical practice perceive and use self-help materials for clients with anxiety and depression? The use of self-help materials with guidance from a therapist has been suggested as a way of meeting the increasing need for mental health services. The present study investigated factors relevant to the use of self-help materials for the treatment of anxiety and depression among psychologists employed in mental health services. Among 1863 eligible clinical psychologists in Norway, 815 (43.7%) participated in a national survey. A total of 93.5% of the participants had recommended self-help materials to clients, and approximately half (55.1%) had received requests from their clients regarding self-help materials. Self-help materials were recommended as an adjunct and not as an alternative to therapist contact by 73.0% of respondents, by 16.6% for relapse prevention, and by 1.2% to clients on a waiting list. Internet/computer-based programs were recommended by 2.2% of the participants. The practitioner's previous use of self-help materials to enhance his or her therapy skills and knowledge of self-help materials was related to use of self-help materials with clients. Psychologists working in child mental health services recommended self-help less often than those working in adult services. These results have implications for future efforts to disseminate effective self-help materials through increased attention toward self-help interventions in training and clinical practice.

Stepped care versus face-to–face cognitive behavior therapy for panic disorder and social anxiety disorder: Predictors and moderators of outcome

“…Internet-delivered CBT is a new and untraditional treatment format in public health care in Norway. One cannot exclude the possibility that attitudes and expectations among the assessors regarding this treatment format can have biased their ratings of treatment outcome (Nordgreen & Havik, 2011). In addition, we only found moderator effects of diagnosis on outcome on CSR and not on self-reporting.…”

Guided Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy for mild and moderate depression: A benchmarking study

“…This is however somewhat higher than what has been found for individual CBT in a meta-analysis by Cooper and Conklin (2015) . Nordgreen and Havik (2011) identified this concern in a survey among Norwegian psychologists, in which a majority of the sample reported that they believed that client compliance would be higher in individual therapy compared to guided self-help treatment. However, the findings in the present study and a recent meta-analysis (e.g., van Ballegooijen et al, 2014 ) indicate that treatment adherence in guided iCBT is at a comparable level as of individual face-to-face CBT.…”

Self-help treatment of anxiety disorders: A meta-analysis and meta-regression of effects and potential moderators

“…The findings of a recent study suggest that it is important to train therapists specifically in conducting guided self-help treatment (Paxling et al, 2013). Self-help treatment in this format is a new and unfamiliar treatment form in Norway and is associated with skepticism among many clinicians (Nordgreen & Havik, 2011). Moreover, in contrast to most other studies on this issue, the self-help treatment was offered as a "low-intensity" treatment in a stepped care model.…”