Clinical review
Reviewer: Rachel Massey, Registered Psychologist
Date of review: January 2023
Comments: This online cognitive behavioural therapy course (CBT) focusses on depression. It's a web module, and is part of the Just a Thought website, which offers other CBT courses including ‘Anxiety’ and ‘Staying on Track During a Pandemic’. Just a Thought was modelled after a well-known and evidence-based Australian programme called This Way Up, with improvements and modifications for the New Zealand context. It is written using friendly and engaging language, and the use of a case study combines to create a personable feel.
CBT is known to be an effective treatment approach, however, online courses run the risk of non-completion without supervision, and given the large amount of information provided, users may find it overwhelming when completing as self guided. It's likely to work well with the support and monitoring or a mental health professional. The user would need to share their login/password to allow a third party to do so. Overall, it is a high-quality engaging course which allows the user to develop a sound understanding of depression, and how it can be effectively treated with a CBT approach. The lessons allow the user to practise and further develop skills, as well as plan for relapses.
New Zealand relevance: It is available to anyone residing in New Zealand or the Pacific Island nations.
Safety concerns: No. There is a helpful tab that appears on the top right corner of each page titled ‘get urgent help’ which provides users with crisis service details.
