Resources such as mobile apps can be a helpful supplementary treatment option for people who are in recovery from post traumatic stress disorder. Apps can allow people who are already seeing a regular therapist or who have just completed a treatment program to maintain their progress.
Can apps help heal the impact of trauma?
So, with rules, predictable adults setting the rules, a planned environment and by balancing other social activities, can some Apps support positive change for children and young people and heal the impact of trauma? IPads are already being used in a range of therapeutic and educational settings, particularly in the area of disability.
Can technology help heal trauma?
Research is showing that whether technology is useful or harmful depends on the type of use, how often it is being used and its purpose. In this article I want to explore the use of technology, specifically certain Apps for iPads/iPhones, asking the question ‘if used therapeutically, can they help heal and transform trauma?’.
Can an app help a brain injury patient?
A brain injury can affect a wide range of cognitive functions including memory, reasoning, and attention. The following apps were designed to help brain injury patients sharpen their mental skills through the repetition of cognitive rehabilitation exercises.
What are the obstacles to the widespread adoption of smartphone-based clinical tools?
While these smartphone-based clinical tools have much potential, there are clear obstacles to their widespread adoption [16], including potentially disrupted clinical communication, social disengagement, technology failures, and patient harm.
What is the most effective therapy for trauma?
The trauma-focused psychotherapies with the strongest evidence are:Prolonged Exposure (PE) Teaches you how to gain control by facing your negative feelings. ... Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) Teaches you to reframe negative thoughts about the trauma. ... Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
What is a trauma app?
Trauma Recovery Coach is for anyone who has recently experienced a traumatic event. This app provides: - Training and tools to practice six skills that are helpful for recovering from a trauma. - Education about the psychological effects of trauma and loss. - Support resources for getting immediate help.
What can be an effective treatment method for people with PTSD?
Strongly RecommendedCognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) » ... Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) » ... Cognitive Therapy » ... Prolonged Exposure » ... Brief Eclectic Psychotherapy » ... Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy » ... Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) » ... Medications »
What is the most effective way to treat someone with PTSD and why?
Psychotherapy. Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT): CBT is a type of psychotherapy that has consistently been found to be the most effective treatment of PTSD both in the short term and the long term. CBT for PTSD is trauma-focused, meaning the trauma event(s) are the center of the treatment.
Is there an app for PTSD?
App Functionality PTSD Coach and T2 Mood Tracker are available for Android and IOS platforms, however both apps provide better navigation and feature functionality when using an IOS device.
What is PTSD Coach app?
PTSD Coach is a completely free, self-help mobile app available for both Android and iOS phones for management of symptoms related to trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
How is PTSD treated today?
The primary treatment is psychotherapy, but can also include medication. Combining these treatments can help improve your symptoms by: Teaching you skills to address your symptoms. Helping you think better about yourself, others and the world.
How effective is therapy for trauma?
At their last documented follow up, patients with PTSD who received psychotherapy had significantly greater improvement in symptoms compared with those who received only medications. Additionally, combining both therapy and medications was significantly better in the long term than medications alone.
How do you help someone with a trauma?
Listen to themGive them time. Let them talk at their own pace – it's important not to pressure or rush them.Focus on listening. ... Accept their feelings. ... Don't blame them or criticise their reactions. ... Use the same words they use. ... Don't dismiss their experiences. ... Only give advice if you're asked to.
What is PTSD coach?
PTSD Coach is a free mobile app that uses evidence-based coping strategies, primarily based in cognitive behavioral therapy, and psychoeducation to manage symptoms of PTSD. It was designed for use with military veterans and the larger civilian community and may be used as an adjunct to therapy or as a stand-alone application.
What is the VA's free app?
Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) has a variety of free mobile apps that provide self-help and education following trauma, as well as treatment companion apps for use with a health-care provider. Our panel of experts review three of those apps to help psychologists decide if one might be a good fit for their patients.
What is the PE app?
The content on the app is focused on the target population (i.e. those who are undergoing treatment by a trained PE provider for PTSD) and adheres to the protocol of PE. It was developed as a collaborative effort between the VA’s National Center for PTSD, the Department of Defense’s DHA Connected Health and Center for Deployment Psychology. Clinical psychologists who provide treatment of trauma using PE were a part of the team in the development of the app.
What are the main features of CPT?
The use of CPT’s main features (e.g. re-examining the traumatic event narrative, identifying stuck points, modifying extreme thinking and underlying beliefs) are all represented in the forms and readings. It is a CPT consistent app, however, it uses more directive language--such as “Practice assignments are the path to CPT success – if you don’t use them you won’t get better”--that is inconsistent with activation of the patient’s beliefs and making their own decisions to move forward.
Is the CPT app good?
The app is very true to the structure that CPT recommends. The reading materials are quite good, and graphics are provided to clearly describe symptoms such as emotional avoidance, vivid images, and negative thoughts. A comprehensive list of strategies that people use to escape and avoid emotions is also included.
Is PTSD Coach available in Spanish?
PTSD Coach is available in Spanish and can be adapted for those who are hearing and visually impaired. The multiple ways the app can be customized with each user’s uploaded content make it more of a culturally congruent and personal experience; however, the content remains fairly sparse on issues of diversity and cultural factors.
Is PE a good treatment for PTSD?
Research has shown PE to be one of the most effective treatments for PTSD. While no randomized control trials were found using PE Coach, small feasibility studies demonstrated support for users in primary care settings or receiving therapy, including higher levels of satisfaction during PE with PE Coach as compared with PE alone. The app was developed in collaboration with clinical psychologists and adheres to the protocol of PE developed by Foa, E., Hembree, E. & Rothbaum, B.
What does VA app collect?
VA mobile apps do collect anonymous information about how people use the app. It is only used to improve how well the app works. We can see what sections of the app people visit, for example. We often use this information to correct technical problems in the apps.
Can VA mobile apps be used to identify you?
When you use a VA mobile app, no data that could be used to identify you is sent to VA or third parties. Any information that you enter into the app, such as names, phone numbers, addresses, images, or music, cannot be accessed, stored, or shared by VA.
Can PTSD be linked to personal information?
This information cannot be linked to any personal information about you and will never be shared with a third party. PTSD is a serious mental health condition that often needs professional evaluation and treatment. These apps are not intended to replace needed professional care.
Is there an app for PTSD?
There are apps for iOS and Android devices. PTSD is a serious mental health condition that often needs professional evaluation and treatment. These apps are not intended to replace needed professional care. Go to Privacy Policy for Mobile Apps.
How does technology help mental health?
Service to more people: Technology can help mental health providers offer treatment to people in remote areas or to many people in times of sudden need (e.g., following a natural disaster or terror attack).
How can technology complement traditional therapy?
Support: Technology can complement traditional therapy by extending an in-person session, reinforcing new skills, and providing support and monitoring. Objective data collection: Technology can quantitatively collect information such as location, movement, phone use, and other information.
Why are mental health apps so slow?
One reason is that testing is a slow process and technology evolves quickly. By the time an app has been put through rigorous scientific testing, the original technology may be outdated. Currently, there are no national standards for evaluating the effectiveness of the hundreds of mental health apps that are available.
What does an app do?
Some apps are stand-alone programs that promise to improve memory or thinking skills. Others help the user connect to a peer counselor or to a health care professional.
What are intervention apps?
Intervention apps may help someone give up smoking, manage symptoms, or overcome anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or insomnia. While the apps are becoming more appealing and user-friendly, there still isn’t a lot of information on their effectiveness.
What is the biggest concern with technological interventions?
Effectiveness: The biggest concern with technological interventions is obtaining scientific evidence that they work and that they work as well as traditional methods. For whom and for what: Another concern is understanding if apps work for all people and for all mental health conditions.
Why was the Brighten study so remarkable?
The BRIGHTEN study was remarkable because it used technology to both deliver treatment interventions and also to actually conduct the research trial. In other words, the research team used technology to recruit, screen, enroll, treat, and assess participants.
Abstract
Mobile technologies, such as smartphones, can improve health services by delivering assessments and interventions that reach people in their daily lives.
Methods
Participants were recruited as part of a larger project studying interventions intended to improve the diet and activity of overweight individuals with serious mental illness ( 11 ).
Results
A total of 326 individuals were enrolled in the larger study, including 276 at the VA clinic and 50 at the county clinic. There were 77 participants lost to follow-up who were not interviewed about mobile phone usage, leaving 249 participants for the mobile phone analyses.
Discussion
The rapid increase in the rate of smartphone use has also occurred among the population with serious mental illness, with growth trends and ownership rates comparable to those of the general population. When the data in this study were collected, about 90% of U.S. adults owned a mobile phone and 55% owned a smartphone.
Conclusions
In this population of people with serious mental illness (i.e., schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression with psychosis, and severe persistent PTSD), we found rates of ownership and use of smartphones that were similar to those of the general population.
Why is the smartphone important?
First, smartphone-based medical devices are typically less invasive and easier to use than their predecessors. For example, a single-channel ECG can be integrated directly into a durable iPhone case.
What is mobile health care?
The first frontier of mobile health care technology is out-of-clinic patient use of software applications (apps) and peripheral hardware that plugs into or attaches to a smartphone or tablet. Already, smartphone-compatible medical devices such as weight scales, blood pressure cuffs, and pulse oximeters are making their way into patients’ homes. By providing health information and instructions for use in a user-friendly interface, smartphone-synced devices empower patients to take an active role in their own health. Unlike older generations of at-home monitoring equipment that required manual record keeping, these smartphone devices’ associated apps allow patient data to be automatically recorded and stored in personalized profiles that can be transmitted securely to the patient’s medical home. They also present that data in comprehensive visual formats such as graphs that convey trends over time and often include explanations of appropriate ranges for a health metric, given patient-specific factors such as age, weight, and sex. By eschewing the need for tedious data collection and putting the emphasis on educating the patient about his or her own health, such apps may ultimately enhance patient engagement.
What is the goal of the app for the visually impaired?
Its goal is to help the visually impaired navigate their devices. These features come built in with virtually every version of Androidand can be activated in the Settings menu. The app will then help the visually impaired interact with their devices. It's fairly basic, but effective.
Is Google Maps accessible to the disabled?
Google Maps. Google Maps isn't directly for the disabled or otherwise handicapped. However, it does have a variety of tools to help people with those kinds of issues. You can find stuff with wheelchair accessible entrances and the turn-by-turn navigation works even while walking.