Major review gives thumbs up to self-help

In guided self-help patients take home a standardized psychological treatment and work through it more or less independently. The treatment can be written down in a book or be available via a web site, television, video or audio and some support is given by a professional therapist or coach. P. Cuijpers from the VU University in Amsterdam reviewed 21 studies, including 810 participants, comparing face-to-face therapy with guided self-help. They concluded that guided self-help was just as effective as face-to-face therapy, that its effects lasted for a year and that people were just as likely to carry on with their treatment.

Cuijpers, P. ... [et al] - Is guided self-help as effective as face-to-face psychotherapy for depression and anxiety disorders? A systematic review and meta-analysis of comparative outcome studies Psychological Medicine (2010), 40, 1943–1957

Are you sitting comfortably ...

A reading charity has won funding from primary-care and mental-health trusts to hold group-reading sessions for service users. The Reader Organisation runs more than eight weekly read-aloud groups for people in GP practices and hospitals throughout Merseyside. Reading aloud raises self-esteem and confidence and improves people's concentration and vocabulary. There is no set list of books although novels, poetry and biographies have proved more popular than non-fiction.

You can find out more about this project at

www.thereader.org.uk

Bibliotherapy for depression

Bibliotherapy involves reading text for the treatment of emotional and physical problems. It has been defined as standardized treatment in book form that an individual works through, independent of any assistance from healthcare professionals. The books or manuals have a psychotherapeutic approach that provides information and outlines strategies that the patient can use to generate insight, stimulate awareness of negative emotions and cognitions and provide solutions to problems that can be used in everyday life. An Australian study of 84 mildly to moderately depressed adults compared a control group to a group using bibliotherapy with minimal assistance and a group using bibliotherapy with telephone support. Both treatment groups had significant reductions in their levels of depression compared to the control group, gains which were maintained at a 1-month follow-up.

Bilich, Linda L. ... [et al] - Effectiveness of bibliotherapy self-help for depression with varying levels of telephone helpline support Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy March-April 2008, 15(2), 61-74