New Brightside Health research indicates adding supplemental video lessons to tele-psychotherapy positively impacts symptom improvement

At Brightside Health, we’re committed to exploring the intersection of technology and psychotherapy through research. A recent peer-reviewed study in the journal Psychotherapy Research investigated the value of supplemental video lessons combined with tele-psychotherapy treatment in patients with depression and anxiety. In this blog post, we’ll discuss this study and why it matters.

What we found 

In this retrospective study, our research team examined data from 7,278 Brightside Health patients receiving psychotherapy for depression and/or anxiety. 

During treatment, licensed therapists provided teletherapy which was supplemented by 10 optional video lessons that provide psychoeducation related to the Unified Protocol evidence-based intervention.  For patients who completed the video lessons, therapists reviewed the content of the lessons and then provided the UP intervention during their video therapy sessions. Patients were also sent “practice questions” via text message after completing each of the videos that helped them to apply the content of the UP videos to their daily lives. 

Generally, across the entire sample, symptom severity decreased as the number of UP video lessons completed increased. Patients who completed at least 7/10 UP lessons showed significantly greater reduction in both depression and anxiety symptoms than those who did not watch any.

Why this matters

These findings add to a growing body of literature supporting the utility of digital tools and web-based approaches in treating anxiety and depression. They also suggest that videos which teach the  UP skills are valuable as a supplement to tele-psychotherapy and can be helpful in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression. These highly accessible solutions make it easier to utilize evidence-based mental healthcare. 

Additional published studies from Brightside Health:

• Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology – Early Response to Antidepressant Medications in Adults With Major Depressive Disorder
• Cureus – A Comparative Evaluation of Measurement-Based Psychiatric Care Delivered via Specialized Telemental Health Platform Versus Treatment As Usual: A Retrospective Analysis
• BMC Psychiatry – Feasibility and acceptability of a novel telepsychiatry-delivered precision prescribing intervention for anxiety and depression
• Frontiers in Psychiatry – Do older adults benefit from telepsychiatric care: Comparison to younger adults
• JMIR Formative Research – Telehealth-Supported Decision-making Psychiatric Care for Suicidal Ideation: Longitudinal Observational Study
• Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology – Does Bupropion Increase Anxiety? A Naturalistic Study Over 12 Weeks
• Frontiers in Psychiatry – Exploring social determinants of health: Comparing lower and higher income individuals participating in telepsychiatric care for depression