How Telehealth and Brief CBT are Revolutionizing Suicide Prevention

Forget what you know about psychotherapy. It’s changing. And that’s a good thing.

Researchers from Ohio State University just published a paper demonstrating that telehealth-based brief cognitive behavioral therapy (bCBT) was effective in reducing suicide attempts among adults.

They took about 100 people with suicidal thoughts and split them into 2 groups. One group received a 12-week course of bCBT and the other group received a 12-week course of present-centered therapy (PCT). All delivered over video.

Both groups were followed for a year.

People receiving bCBT were 41% less likely to attempt suicide.

This finding is remarkable for a few reasons:

1. This was a telehealth study.
2. bCBT was tested against an active intervention.
3. The intervention only lasted 12 weeks.
4. Positive effects lasted a year.

Here’s what this means for mental health treatments in general:

1. Telehealth research is growing and supporting its use.
2. Telehealth is effective in high-risk patients.
3. Psychotherapy doesn’t have to last forever.

As the use of telehealth grows and the length of psychotherapy treatments shrink, more patients will get access to quality care. Studies like these give me hope. You should read about single-session interventions (SSI) if this study doesn’t impress you. We mental health clinicians need to pivot and embrace new technologies and new treatment manuals if we’re going to be a part of the solution.

Photo Credit: Jack Bell Photography