Web Based Therapist Training on Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Anxiety Disorders

The need for evidence-based mental health treatments i.e., 'treatment based on the best available science or research evidence', has been stressed from scientific, ethical, and economic perspectives. While empirical evidence supports both the efficacy and effectiveness of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for anxiety disorders, the demand for clinicians trained in these approaches far exceeds the supply. A major reason for this is the lack of trained cognitive behavior therapists. New technologies provide the opportunity to both facilitate accessibility to this specialized training by mental health professionals and to improve the quality of this training. Recent research has found that training clinicians using these new web-based technologies is highly effective, can significantly improve skills, and has significant advantages over traditional training programs. The long term goal of this project is to increase the number of available mental health professionals trained in cognitive behavior therapy for anxiety disorders by developing a set of web-based training tools enabling the widespread dissemination of this training. In Phase I the investigators developed a prototype online tutorial covering some core CBT principles and a Social Anxiety Disorder module. The investigators also tested the feasibility of live remote training through videoconferencing. In phase II investigators will expand the tutorial to include a comprehensive review of CBT principles and techniques and expand modules to include the full spectrum of anxiety and anxiety-related disorders (i.e., Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder). Investigators will also evaluate the efficacy of live remote training in improving clinical skills. A cohort of 50 clinicians from diverse educational and professional backgrounds will be recruited. Improvement in trainees' conceptual knowledge will be evaluated pre and post tutorial, and improvement in trainees' clinical skills in applying the CBT concepts will be evaluated by blind ratings of clinical adherence and competence at three time points: before on-line training, and before and after videoconference training. User satisfaction with both the on-line tutorial and the videoconference training will also be evaluated. Impact of training on post-training patient outcomes will be evaluated.