Welcome to ACT taking hurt to hope. Today we are going to talk about a relatively new phenomena that makes psychological treatment assessable and affordable to most of us. It is estimate that one in four persons will suffer from anxiety disorder and one in five will experience serious depression at some point in life. Anxiety and mood disorders are among the most common causes of ill health, lost productivity, and inability to work. Moreover, many of those affected suffer from other physical and mental illnesses. During the past decade, the Internet has presented new options for psychological treatment. Internet-based treatments have the potential to disseminate rapidly and reach patients who otherwise might not receive treatment. Concurrently, this development raises questions concerning how patients are diagnosed, which patient groups receive treatment, and what other options are available. Today you are going to get the chance to listen to an expert in this field, Dr Gerhard Andersson. Gerhard is a professor of clinical psychology at the department of Behavioral Sciences and Learning at Linkoping University in Linkoping Sweden. Gerhard has been developing and evaluating internet psychological treatments for 15 years among other in the many different areas. You can read more about Gerhard on his website www.gerhardandersson.se by clicking on his name on this week’s episode of ACT taking hurt to hope.
