Next: Harnessing Neuroplasticity, Medication AND Psychotherapy to treat mental health conditions

By The Conversation | September 6, 2023 |

There is mount­ing recog­ni­tion in the sci­en­tif­ic com­mu­ni­ty that com­bin­ing dif­fer­ent treat­ment approach­es for men­tal health con­di­tions can cre­ate a ben­e­fit greater than the sum of its parts. As a clin­i­cal psy­chol­o­gist and neu­ro­science researcher, I have been work­ing to inte­grate insights from both fields to expand treat­ment options for those suf­fer­ing from depres­sion, anx­i­ety and…

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Study shows the power of electroencephalography and machine learning to help predict response to psychotherapy (or lack thereof) in patients with PTSD

By SharpBrains | May 2, 2023

A fas­ci­nat­ing study just pub­lished in Nature Men­tal Health aimed at help­ing pre­dict the out­comes of psy­chother­a­py for patients with Post-Trau­­mat­ic Stress Dis­or­der (PTSD) using Machine Learn­ing (ML) and elec­troen­cephalog­ra­phy (EEG) data. PTSD is a men­tal health con­di­tion trig­gered by expe­ri­enc­ing or wit­ness­ing a trau­mat­ic event; two evi­­dence-based treatments–Prolonged Expo­sure (PE) and Cog­ni­tive Pro­cess­ing Ther­a­py (CPT)–are…

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8‑week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course found to be as effective as Lexapro (escitalopram) to treat adults with anxiety disorders, and with far fewer side effects

By Greater Good Science Center | April 19, 2023

Anx­i­ety is the most com­mon psy­chi­atric dis­or­der, with over 301 mil­lion ?peo­ple affect­ed around the world. Whether extreme anx­i­ety aris­es in social sit­u­a­tions, is trig­gered by a par­tic­u­lar pho­bia, or man­i­fests as a gen­er­al unease in the world, it can severe­ly affect people’s every­day func­tion­ing and lead to high lev­els of dis­tress. Luck­i­ly, there are…

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Study: Automated VR psychotherapy can help reduce anxiety and distress, especially among those with psychosis and severe agoraphobia

By SharpBrains | May 5, 2022

Oxford Uni­ver­si­ty VR spin­out demon­strates sig­nif­i­cant psy­chother­a­py ben­e­fits in Lancet study (Fierce Health­care): Vir­tu­al real­i­ty can help treat symp­toms in patients with psy­chosis, accord­ing to a new study pub­lished in The Lancet Psy­chi­a­try. GameChangeVR auto­mates psy­chother­a­py, guid­ing users with a vir­tu­al coach. It was devel­oped by Oxford­VR, a dig­i­tal ther­a­peu­tics com­pa­ny, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Oxford…

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Computer-assisted cognitive behavior therapy (CCBT) may outperform Treatment as Usual (TAU) in helping patients reduce depression, improve 6‑month remission rates

By SharpBrains | February 16, 2022

Study: Com­put­er-assist­ed cog­ni­tive behav­ioral ther­a­py (CCBT) improved depres­sion for pri­ma­ry care patients (Mobi­Health News): Researchers found patients who used CCBT in addi­tion to reg­u­lar treat­ment led to “sig­nif­i­cant­ly greater improve­ment” on the Patient Health Questionnaire–9, used to screen for and mea­sure depres­sive symp­toms. Those results also held up over time. “Results of this study show that…

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Why MDMA-assisted psychotherapy may become an FDA-approved treatment for PTSD within 2 years

By The Conversation | December 21, 2021

For peo­ple with post-trau­­mat­ic stress dis­or­der, recall­ing mem­o­ries of phys­i­cal or sex­u­al assault, com­bat or dis­­as­ter-relat­ed events can induce intense anx­i­ety or pan­ic attacks as well as debil­i­tat­ing flash­backs. In the U.S., about 7% of peo­ple suf­fer from PTSD and lose an aver­age of about four work­ing days each month as a result. Trau­­ma-spe­­cif­ic psychotherapy,…

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