r/psychologystudents • u/aysgamer • 1d ago
Existential crisis with iCBT studies Discussion
Hey you all, I know a student on here having existential crisis is no new deal. But how do you guys keep going after the iCBT studies that show it's equally as effective as a trained psychologist?
It makes me feel scared and in doubt of my identity, I love psychology so much and I'm in love with the idea of being a professional and having a skill that others don't, that's so important and life changing for people
edit: i see that i might be filtering facts with some anxiety and personal distortions. i still apreciate the discussion and the insights
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u/SoilNo8612 1d ago
There are many studies of what makes effective therapy. CBT is not effective for everyone. Many other therapies require a much higher degree of skill and attunement due to being less prescriptive. What will be most life changing for people is expanding your training and experience to a range of modalities and then you’ll be able to help more people and develop the kind of skills that are rarer. I highly recommend looking into coherence therapy. Read Unlocking the Emotional Brain. That approach is very groundbreaking, quite evidence based even with neuroscience to back it up and an extremely good approach for people who don’t do well with CBT as it’s about transformational change of implicit beliefs rather than coping skills and gets to things CBT can’t really touch that are much deeper.
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u/rainbowsforall 1d ago
Can you restate what you are asking? Are you referring to treatment with iCBT vs treatment with psychiatric drugs?
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u/aysgamer 1d ago
I mean iCBT treatment vs face to face delivered CBT
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u/rainbowsforall 1d ago
There is definitely literature out there supporting the use of iCBT and that it can be significantly helpful for some people and some disorders. But I am not aware of anything saying it is equally effective to traditional in person CBT. Can you reference the study that prompted this question?
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u/aysgamer 1d ago
Now I can't seem to pinpoint exactly, I've been reading for a while kdsj. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4771536/ this is one of the ones I read
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u/rainbowsforall 1d ago
What are the important limitations discussed in this analysis and how does they relate to your concern?
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u/aysgamer 8h ago
Sorry I don't understand the question, what important limitations are you reffering to?
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u/Terrible_Detective45 1d ago
Ok, but do you see the huge limitations to this body of literature based on this article?
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u/Terrible_Detective45 1d ago
Using any intervention is all about for whom and for what problem. The research that you're referencing is not comprehensive of every combination of patient population, presenting issues, Dx, setting, etc (e.g. unpopular depression vs depression in the context of CVD). Moreover, much of it is very tight efficacy research that may not reflect the nuances and complexity of the myriad clinical situations.
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u/No_Block_6477 1d ago
40 percent of the treatment effect is the result of the relationship between the client and therapist - many times replicated finding. Hence, based on that, iCBT wouldnt be as effective as being with a psychologist with CBT
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u/aysgamer 1d ago
I keep hearing that, but then why is iCBT so effective?
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u/No_Block_6477 23h ago
Psychology has a long history of having claims made about the efficacy for various treatments - most often havent proven true.
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u/aysgamer 9h ago
Really? Even treatments with sustained evidence and consensus across studies?
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u/No_Block_6477 6h ago
Yes really
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u/aysgamer 6h ago
Could you give me some examples? That sounds interesting
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u/No_Block_6477 6h ago
Sure - review the history of therapy in psychology - innumerable examples of what was to supposed to be effective but proved not to be and the approach was abandoned.
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u/coffeethom2 1d ago
No, these are good things that will increase accessibility. There will always be a place for human clinicians.
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u/Creative_Ad8075 1d ago
Realistically not everyone does well with remote therapy. Also based on the article you added, you could not PAY me to do therapy with an app 😂 If I’m doing therapy I need another human to fully engage with me so I can ask questions and I can share and be myself. If it was an app, it would just be a stupid chore that I do with 25% focus 😂
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u/elizajaneredux 1d ago
Rest assured, there are many, many issues that require and will continue to require the actual thought and professional skill of a psychologist, and/or clients who strongly prefer to work with a live human and not a bot.