Abstract
Online psychotherapy is now a respected mode of psychosocial treatment. Nowadays the attention of researchers is primarily focused on its effectiveness.
Authors provide an overview of 30 studies dealing with the effectiveness of online psychotherapy. They collected surveys focused on the effectiveness of one of three basic forms of online therapy: self-help online psychotherapy program without contact with a therapist, self-help online psychotherapeutic program with minimal contact with the therapist and online psychotherapy with a therapist.
Most studies examined the effectiveness of CBT intervention which lasted between 6-8 weeks. Efficiency was mostly measured by the comparison with control groups, made up of patients on the waiting list.
Two thirds of the studies included in the research design follow up of the respondents, mostly for 3-6 months. In all the studies online psychotherapeutic interventions proved to be effective means of mental disorders treatment.
Studies which included a control group have always shown that completion of the online treatment brought more relief than inclusion in the control group. Studies comparing the online intervention to face to face treatment came in all cases to the conclusion that the two forms of therapy are equally effective