Is Telehealth Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) Effective?

A resounding ‘Yes‘! Telehealth, the use of videoconferencing to deliver psychotherapy services, offers an innovative way to address significant gaps in access to care and is being used to deliver a variety of treatments for youth. Although recent research has supported the effectiveness of telehealth delivery of a variety of interventions for children, childhood posttraumatic stress disorder and interventions for adults, a 2018 pilot study examined the feasibility and potential effectiveness of trauma-focused cognitive–behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) delivered via telehealth in patient homes. Telehealth treatment was delivered to 70 trauma-exposed youth in 7 underserved communities. Of these, 88.6% completed a full course of TF-CBT and 96.8% of these treatment completers no longer met diagnostic criteria for a trauma-related disorder at posttreatment. Results demonstrated clinically meaningful symptom change posttreatment, with large effect sizes evident for both youth, adult and caregiver-reported reduction in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. The results observed in this pilot evaluation are promising and provide preliminary evidence of the feasibility and effectiveness of this treatment format. The COVID-19 global pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented need to rethink how mental health services are delivered, which is particularly applicable to high base rate conditions related to posttraumatic stress. Given the existing network of nationally certified TF-CBT therapists, and many international TF-CBT therapists, these findings suggest the highly effective use of telehealth for providing effective and accessible mental health intervention. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

The best part is that you can meet in person at one of our 3 locations should you choose to pivot between telehealth and in person therapy!