THIS WAY UP's Online CBT Course for Practitioners
The pressure is on for GPs to prescribe and refer less and provide more psychological support themselves but it’s hard for GPs to get the time to learn more about psychological therapies.
With this in mind the team at THIS WAY UP have recently added a modular CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) course for practitioners to the Clinician section of their website. https://thiswayup.org.au/returning-clinicians/cognitive-behavioural-therapy/
Designed originally for junior registrars in psychiatry, the course aims to provide participants with practical skills to help them manage patients with anxiety and depression without resorting to prescribing medications.
Presented over nine manageable modules the course begins by explaining the underlying principles of CBT then moves on to look at specific interventions for reducing arousal such as slow breathing and progressive muscle relaxation, cognitive interventions (structured problem solving and cognitive restructuring) and behavioural interventions (activity scheduling, graded exposure and behavioural experiments). Treatment of panic disorder and depression are examined in detail in the last two modules.
For GPs and GP registrars with little or no knowledge of cognitive behavioural techniques this is an excellent introduction - and a great way to learn about what your patients are doing in online programs or face to face therapy environments. It may also provide GPs with the confidence to teach these skills to patients themselves
Gerhard is a full professor of Clinical Psychology at Linköping University, Sweden since 2003, an
d affiliated researcher at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. Professor Andersson is an internationally recognized researcher in the field of CBT delivered through information and communication technology, as well as the author of the book “The Internet and CBT: a clinical guide”.
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