Low intensity CBT with indigenous consumers: creative solutions for culturally appropriate mental health care

Chapter 62 outlines challenges faced by clinicians and provides a guide to embed key understandings that have emerged from recent research into practice. We present a series of principles guiding ‘ways of being’, which may assist clinicians achieve optimum outcomes with their clients; and we propose a framework for enhancing specific LI CBT interventions to increase cultural sensitivity and appropriateness, and to overcome limitations of classical CBT interventions.

Improving access to low intensity interventions for ethnic minority communities

Chapter 61 focuses on the issue of improving access to LI interventions for ethnic minority communities, and examines possible reasons for reduced access and suggests some strategies to address it.

Enhancing community awareness of depression, access to treatment and attitudinal change: experiences from beyondblue: the national depression initiative

Chapter 59 explores methods of enhancing community awareness of depression, access to treatment and attitudinal change using the example of the Australian 'bluebeyond' initiative. The initiative's aims are discussed alongside challenges that were faced and potential solutions.

Training clinicians online to be e-therapists: the ‘Anxiety Online’ model

Chapter 49 considers Anxiety Online - a 'virtual' online clinical assessment and treatment service, and describes an online clinician training program for online low intensity practitioners (‘etherapists’) to work ‘in’ the Anxiety Online virtual clinic, and the challenges and solutions involved.

Training depression case managers

Chapter 45 focuses on the training of depression case managers (DCMs). Challenges and potential solutions to the use of DCMs are considered, as well as the training process for DCMs.

Cognitive Behavioural Group Therapy (CBGT): capitalizing on efficiency and humanity

Chapter 33 discusses cognitive behavioural group therapy (CBGT), the challenges and opportunities offered by the format, and considers patient suitability for CBGT, culture and CBGT, and therapist training for CBGT.

Online mutual support bulletin boards

Chapter 30 aims to provide information about online mutual support bulletin boards as an adjunct to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). It is intended to assist those practitioners whose clients use or may use bulletin boards in the future, and to provide information for practitioners considering establishing their own bulletin boards as an adjunct to their CBT practice

Email in low intensity CBT interventions

Chapter 29 discusses the use of ‘electronic mail’ (email) as a tool in low intensity (LI) cognitive behavioural treatment interventions. It describes the traditional roles of email, including communication and administration, but also considers the clinical benefits of writing or typing one’s thoughts as a way of facilitating psychotherapy, and will therefore be of interest to practitioners and administrators.

Supporting low intensity interventions using the telephone

Chapter 27 discusses LI interventions using the telephone, and aims to provide the rationale, evidence base, challenges, solutions and practical application of delivering low intensity psychological (mainly cognitive behavioural therapy) interventions by telephone.

Guided CBT internet interventions: specific issues in supporting clients with depression, anxiety and comorbid conditions

Chapter 25 discusses the variety of issues that can arise when clients with specific mental and physical health conditions use internet-based CBT programs. A mixture of specific and common challenges are discussed for the mood and anxiety disorders, bulimia nervosa, physical health conditions, and substance use disorders. Issues common to the conditions include maximizing safety (e.g. checking for suicidality), assisting client engagement and maintaining adherence, encouraging self-monitoring, attention to non-specific factors such as therapeutic alliance and hopefulness for improvement, and involving significant others.