Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in the Digital Age: Presidential Address

Abstract

Our field has come a long way in establishing cognitive-behavioral therapy as the empirically supported treatment of choice for a wide range of mental and behavioral health problems. Nevertheless, most individuals with mental disorders do not receive any care at all, and those who do often have difficulty accessing care that is consistently high in quality. Addressing these issues is complex and costly and thus progress has been slow. We are entering an exciting stage in which emerging technologies might offer novel solutions to the treatment gap. This paper discusses a number of technology-enabled solutions to our field's challenges, including Internet-based and smartphone-based cognitive-behavioral therapy. Nevertheless, we must remain attentive to potential pitfalls of these emerging technologies. The paper incorporates suggestions for how the field may approach these potential pitfalls and provides a vision for how we might develop powerful, scalable, precisely timed, personalized interventions to enhance global mental health.

Keywords: I-CBT; cognitive-behavioral therapy; digital treatments; smartphone-based treatment; technology.

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest Drs. Wilhelm and Weingarden have received salary support from Telefonica Alpha, Inc. Dr. Wilhelm is a presenter for the Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry Academy in educational programs supported through independent medical education grants from pharmaceutical companies. Dr. Wihelm has received royalties from Elsevier Publications, Guilford Publications, New Harbinger Publications, and Oxford University Press. Dr. Wilhelm has also received speaking honoraria from various academic institutions and foundations, including the International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation and the Tourette Association of America. In addition, she received payment from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies for her role as Associate Editor for the Behavior Therapy journal, as well as from John Wiley & Sons, Inc. for her role as Associate Editor for the journal Depression & Anxiety. Mr. Jacobson is the owner of a free application published on the Google Play Store entitled “Mood Triggers”. He does not receive any direct or indirect revenue from his ownership of the application (i.e. the application is free, there are no advertisements, and the data is only being used for research purposes).

Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.