Internet Interventions for Post-Traumatic Stress

Internet interventions for post-traumatic stress have grown in popularity because of the limits many patients face in seeking in-person therapy, including lack of resources, residing in small towns or rural areas without geographical access to treatment, and heightened stigma around mental health in rural communities. By removing these barriers, internet interventions can increase the likelihood that people with PTSD seek help. Most current internet interventions for PTSD use cognitive behavioral therapy, often drawing on cognitive processing therapy and exposure therapy as well, and come in two forms: therapist-assisted interventions, in which a live therapist guides a patient through some or all of the intervention by video, instant message or telephone and can provide feedback and help process trauma, and self-guided interventions, in which patients have no therapist contact except in an emergency and instead receive coping skills and crisis resources. Existing interventions have shown effectiveness in reducing PTSD symptoms with varying causes, such as war or miscarriage, with effects holding up to a year after treatment, though one randomized controlled trial found more structured, highly therapist-assisted interventions more effective than purely psychoeducational or inspirational ones.