Guided Internet-Based Treatments in Psychiatry

This book provides a practically oriented overview of internet-based treatments in psychiatry and mental health care, which represent a relatively new research area and offer a novel clinical approach. The principal focus is on internet-based cognitive behavior therapy, as this is currently the best example of evidence-based internet interventions in the field. Applications are described in a wide range of conditions, including, for example, depression, panic disorder, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders and addictions. Research background, clinical trials and evidence for efficacy and effectiveness are discussed and helpful case descriptions, provided. Information is also included on cost-effectiveness and other relevant aspects of health economics and on new technologies and future challenges. Guided Internet-Based Treatments in Psychiatry will be of great interest for practitioners and researchers alike.

“This book discusses research into internet-based programs to address this issue. … This book primarily targets individuals within the mental health system who are treating, evaluating, or referring patients for therapy services, namely CBT, as well as those researching it in its various forms. … While the idea behind this book is quite interesting, and the research it discusses is revealing and promising, the book appears more useful for those actively involved in research related to this topic … .” (Steven T. Herron, Doody's Book Reviews, May, 2016)

Nils Lindefors (NL), MD, PhD, graduated at Karolinska Institutet 1982. He subsequently combined basic clinical training in hospitals in the Stockholm area with a PhD program in pharmacology in professor Urban Ungerstedt´s lab. In 1987 Nils Lindefors defended a PhD thesis on Brain tachykinins and their interaction with dopaminergic transmission. Supported with part time postdoc stipends from the Medical Research Council Nils Lindefors studied molecular neurobiology in late Håkan Person lab and was appointed associate professor in pharmacology at Karolinska Institutet 1990. During the 90-ties Nils Lindefors finalised specialist training in psychiatry at the Karolinska Hospital. Nils Lindefors became specialist in psychiatry 1997 and appointed as consultant at the department of Psychiatry at the Karolinska Hospital and associate professor in psychiatry at Karolinska Institutet at 1999. Nils Lindefors was regional coordinator in Scandinavia of the EUFEST study of antipsychotic treatment in first-episode schizophrenia and PI of an RCT with Methylphenidate treatment of adult male prison inmates with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Nils Lindefors has been PI or involved in a substantial number of RCTs on internet-based cognitive behaviour therapy, mainly integrated in psychiatric practice. The research interest of Nils Lindefors is currently in the area of psychiatric treatments and health economy and has published more than 130 peer-reviewed journal articles.

                                                                                                                       

Gerhard Andersson, PhD, graduated as clinical psychologist at Uppsala University, Sweden in 1991, where subsequently did his PhD in clinical psychology in 1995. Five years later he did a second PhD in medicine. The focus then was on auditory disorders such as hearing loss, tinnitus and dizziness. Following a post-doc and University College London, he was appointed associate professor in 1997. The year after he began research on internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy, and was one of the first in the world to do research in this emerging field including studies on a range of disorders and conditions in psychiatry and somatic health problems. He was appointed full professor in 2003 at Linköping University and guest professor at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, in 2007. In between he trained as CBT therapist and received his therapist license in 2005. Gerhard Andersson has supervised 25 PhD students to completion and more than 200 MSc students. In 2014 he received the Nordic Prize in Medicine and the Outstanding Psychologist award. His research is funded by the major funding bodies in Sweden and by the EU, and he has published more than 450 peer-reviewed journal articles and 16 books (www.gerhardandersson.se). Finally, Gerhard Andersson is the founder of the International Society for Research on Internet Interventions (ISRII) and the current president of the European Society for Research on Internet Interventions (ESRII). He is the editor-in-chief of the journal Internet Interventions.