Press Release

Friday, February 03, 2017

Transforming access to psychological services using telepsychotherapy

The Adult Clinical Psychology Laboratory at the Université de Moncton aims to transform the delivery of mental health services for anxiety and depression in the Atlantic Provinces through the creation of the Telepsychotherapy Transformational Research Unit (TTRU; www.etherapies.ca).

The TTRU’s mission is to develop, assess and disseminate new methods of psychological care using telepsychotherapy. Telepsychotherapy involves providing remote mental health services using technology such as the internet, the telephone and videoconferencing. The TTRU currently offers internet-delivered therapies or telepsychotherapies for the treatment of anxiety and depression. These therapies are for people aged 18 years and older and are free. They are typically based on principles of cognitive behaviour therapy and are offered as part of studies conducted at the TTRU under the direction of the professor and psychologist France Talbot.

Anxiety and depression are common problems. Unfortunately, only a minority of people in need will seek or access traditional face to face mental health services. The shortage of psychologists in Canada further limits access to psychological treatments. Internet-delivered therapies offer an option that can facilitate access to evidence-based psychological treatments. Research is supporting the efficacy of a number of Internet-delivered therapies, the majority relying on principles of cognitive behaviour therapy (iCBT) for the treatment of anxiety and depression.

The internet-delivered therapies offered at the TTRU do not require travelling or face-to-face appointments with a mental health professional. They are of brief duration and can take different forms, such as writing therapy or be similar to an online course with lessons and do it yourself guides to put into practice what is being learned. Emails are used as the main way of communication. The TTRU’s studies are innovative, few evidence-based internet-delivered therapies being available in Canada.

The TTRU, in collaboration with the eCentreClinic of Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, also aims to offer efficient iCBT programs to linguistic minorities, including francophone minorities. This project is part of a research program which has received funding to date from the Royal Bank of Canada through the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation, MincCare Inc, the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation, the Faculty of graduate studies and research of the Université de Moncton and the Consortium national de formation en santé.

As part of this collaboration, an iCBT, the Wellbeing Course, is being offered in French (Cours Mieux-être) throughout the Atlantic Provinces as part of Miguel Robichaud's doctoral thesis. The original English version was developed and tested at Macquarie University and is currently being offered across Australia by the Australian government. A pilot study conducted by the doctorate student Daniella DaPonte, under the direction of Professor France Talbot in 2015-2016 across New Brunswick, suggests that the French-Canadian version would be as effective as the English version. The TTRU is currently recruiting participants for a larger study.

Among available iCBT programs, the Wellbeing Course is of particular interest. It is a transdiagnostic therapy in that it allows the treatment of both anxiety and depression, two problems often associated with each other. The Wellbeing Course is also self-guided in that the guidance of a clinician is not required for its safe and effective administration. These features make it not only a cost-effective option, but also a readily available front-line intervention.

For more information, please contact Miguel Robichaud (506-858-4406; mieuxetre@etherapies.ca ) or Professor France Talbot (858-4200; France.talbot@umoncton.ca ). You may also visit the TTRU’s website (www.etherapies.ca).





Return to Press release