Expanding the Reach of Evidence-Based Psychotherapy Through Remote Technologies

Abstract

The present chapter provides an overview of (and supporting evidence for) leading formats of technology-involved youth mental health intervention, followed by a discussion of key cautions and concerns that warrant careful consideration at this early stage of digital technology-involved care. Although there has been much progress in the development and evaluation of evidence-based treatments for child and adolescent mental health problems, limitations in the accessibility and acceptability of supported care have significantly restricted actual service utilization among affected youth. In recent years, extraordinary advances in telecommunications and the increasing ubiquity of digital technologies in daily life afford new opportunities for meaningfully extending the reach and scope of supported youth mental health care. Remote technologies have potential to liberate mental health treatments from their traditional geographic confines and overcome geographic disparities in the mental health workforce, increase the cost-effectiveness of care, and expand the ecological validity and generalizability of care by affording in situ intervention, and systematically extend treatment engagement and skill rehearsal to children's natural settings. The authors conclude by examining exciting new frontiers on the horizon for the incorporation of digital technologies into children's mental health care. Although there has been much progress in the development and evaluation of evidence-based treatments (EBTs) for child and adolescent mental health problems, limitations in the accessibility and acceptability of supported care have significantly restricted actual service utilization among affected youth (Merikangas, et al., 2010; Merikangas, et al., 2011). There are grossly inadequate Handbook of Evidence-Based Therapies for Children and Adolescents: Bridging science and practice (2 nd edition).