%0 Journal Article
%@ 1438-8871
%I JMIR Publications
%V 19
%N 6
%P e214
%T Scaling Up Psychological Treatments: A Countrywide Test of the Online Training of Therapists
%A Fairburn,Christopher G
%A Allen,Elizabeth
%A Bailey-Straebler,Suzanne
%A O'Connor,Marianne E
%A Cooper,Zafra
%+ Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford,, United Kingdom, 44 186 561 3199, credo@medsci.ox.ac.uk
%K psychotherapy
%K training
%K dissemination
%K Internet
%K eating disorders
%K cognitive behavior therapy
%D 2017
%7 16.06.2017
%9 Original Paper
%J J Med Internet Res
%G English
%X Background: A major barrier to the widespread dissemination of psychological treatments is the way that therapists are trained. The current method is not scalable. Objective: Our objective was to conduct a proof-of-concept study of Web-centered training, a scalable online method for training therapists. Methods: The Irish Health Service Executive identified mental health professionals across the country whom it wanted to be trained in a specific psychological treatment for eating disorders. These therapists were given access to a Web-centered training program in transdiagnostic cognitive behavior therapy for eating disorders. The training was accompanied by a scalable form of support consisting of brief encouraging telephone calls from a nonspecialist. The trainee therapists completed a validated measure of therapist competence before and after the training. Results: Of 102 therapists who embarked upon the training program, 86 (84.3%) completed it. There was a substantial increase in their competence scores following the training (mean difference 5.84, 95% Cl –6.62 to –5.05; P<.001) with 42.5% (34/80) scoring above a predetermined cut-point indicative of a good level of competence. Conclusions: Web-centered training proved feasible and acceptable and resulted in a marked increase in therapist competence scores. If these findings are replicated, Web-centered training would provide a means of simultaneously training large numbers of geographically dispersed trainees at low cost, thereby overcoming a major obstacle to the widespread dissemination of psychological treatments. 
%M 28623184
%R 10.2196/jmir.7864
%U http://www.jmir.org/2017/6/e214/
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.7864
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28623184