The AI-Therapy Blog «

Just a quick heads up. I’ve written a three part series on computerized therapy that has been published on the PsychCentral website.

1.Computerized Therapy: Will Your Next Therapist Be a Computer?

Despite a conspicuous absence of insightful robots, computerized therapy is more important than ever.

A general introduction to the field of computerized therapy, including how it works and why it is important. Read more.

2. Top 5 Myths about Computerized Therapy

I do not see real-world clinics joining video rental shops in the graveyard of obsolete business models anytime soon.

A look at some of the most common misconceptions about the field. Read more.

3. The Future of Computerized Therapy

The statistical analysis of large data sets is changing the world we live in. … Therapists have been recording clinical information about patients for decades, and it is exciting to consider what a large-scale analysis might reveal.

Some of the exciting technologies that might shape the future of the field. Read more.

Fjola

Fjola Helgadottir, PhD, CPsychol, is a clinical psychologist, a senior research clinician at the University of Oxford, and is a co-creator of AI-Therapy.com, an online CBT treatment program for overcoming social anxiety

Happy New Year!

When we launched the AI-Therapy treatment program we never expected to get users from such a wide range of countries. We’ve had users from 22 different countries tackle their social anxiety in the last year. For something a little different, we are going to try to translate our program’s name for each country below (please let us know if we make any mistakes in your language):

Australia: Overcome social anxiety (does anyone know how to say this in an Aboriginal language?)
Canada: Overcome social anxiety, Surmonter l’anxiété sociale
Denmark: Overvind social angst
France: Surmonter l’anxiété sociale
Germany: Überwindung von Social Anxiety
Iceland: Sigrastu á félagskvíða
Ireland: Overcome social anixety, Superar a ansiedade social
Israel: להתגבר על חרדה חברתית and التغلب على القلق الاجتماعي
Luxembourg: Surmonter l’anxiété sociale, Überwindung von Social Anxiety (is there another term in Luxembourgish?)
New Zealand: Overcome social anxiety, Ma te pouri i hinga Social
Norway: Vinne sosial angst
Poland: Przezwyciężyć lęk społeczny
Saudi Arabia: التغلب على القلق الاجتماعي
Slovenia: Premagovanje socialne anksioznosti
Singapore: Overcome social anxiety, Mengatasi kebimbangan sosial, சமூககவலை கடக்க, 克服社交焦虑 or 克服社交焦慮
South Korea:사회 불안을 극복
Spain: Superar la ansiedad social
Sweden: Övervinna social ångest
United Arab Emirates: التغلب على القلق الاجتماعي
United Kingdom: Overcome social anxiety
United States of America: Overcome social anxiety
Vietnam: Khắc phục lo âu xã hội

I hope you decide to Overcome Social anxiety in 2014!

I have been writing about social anxiety for a while now in academic publications, social media and in the media. However, it seems to receive a lot less reaction from people than other mental health issues, such as obsessive compulsive disorder or infertility stress.

I’ve been wondering why this is, and I have come to the conclusion that one reason is that most people don’t really understand social anxiety. How would they? People with social anxiety are experts at hiding their problem, and the mental anguish they experience.

I welcome everyone’s stories who have suffered from this problem. I would like to help raise awareness of the problem, and one way might be with a collection of anecdotes from people who live with this. Do you know anyone, or do you have a personal story about social anxiety that you would like to share? If you send it to me (fjola@ai-therapy.com) I’ll publish it anonymously – I understand that most people with social anxiety are afraid of being open about their problem. For those who contribute, you’ll be helping others by identifying what social anxiety is and raising awareness of this debilitating condition!

It was great to see that yesterday BBC was covering how difficult Christmas can be for those with social anxiety. However, I have to disagree with the psychologist who was quoted in the article:

Chartered clinical psychologist Dr Oliver James believes that any benefits related to CBT are temporary, and effective treatment should deal with the causes as well as the symptoms of anxiety.

“It [CBT] encourages people to tell themselves a story about their anxiety and makes no attempt at all to understand the causes,” he claims.

He is clearly not up to date with latest scientific findings about the value of CBT for treating social anxiety, since both of these arguments are flat out wrong. (1) Decades of research consistently show that gains made from CBT therapy are maintained in the long term. (2) It directly tackles the underlying causes of social anxiety by targeting the thoughts and behaviors that maintain it.

Fjola Helgadottir, PhD, MClinPsych, is a clinical psychologist, a senior research clinician at the University of Oxford, and is a co-creator of AI-Therapy.com, an online CBT treatment program for overcoming social anxiety

The relationship between salaries and social anxiety

It is a known fact that one area where social anxiety has a big impact on people’s lives is in the workplace. In particular, studies have found that people with social anxiety are less likely to be promoted and have, on average, lower salaries.

When was the last time you asked your boss for a raise?

Lack of assertiveness is one cause of this problem. For some people, being assertive is “too risky” since they have a strong fear of negative judgement – particularly by authority figures. For example, you might be worried about annoying or upsetting your boss, so you convince yourself that “now is not a good time to ask”. Unfortunately, the “right time” never seems to present itself.

In the past, psychologists and counselors would teach you techniques about how to present yourself. For example, common advice would be “make eye contact” and “stand tall with a straight back”. However, if you learn techniques like these without tackling the underlying social anxiety or the fear of negative evaluation, you’ll probably still struggle to gather the courage to ask for a raise.

Facing your fears (with CBT) can be a life changing experience.

One of the most effective ways to tackle anxiety is with a technique called cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). This is a long term solution, since it helps people evaluate and challenge their thoughts and behaviors, making them more likely to engage in activities they previously avoided.

In our AI-Therapy program, we use CBT to identify and target the thoughts and behaviors underlying the user’s social anxiety. Not only do our user report fewer social anxiety symptoms after completing the program, but also an increase in happiness and overall quality of life. Who knows – maybe it will give you the courage to ask for that promotion in 2014?

It seems like every time I open Facebook or LinkedIn I see some tips from celebrities or entrepreneurs how to be more confident or successful. In reality, a little talent, a lot of hard work, and some lucky breaks are the key ingredients to success. Yet, successful people have a tendency to attribute their trajectories to a handful of tricks people “must do” in order to succeed. Unfortunately, these tips aren’t always as helpful as they seem. In fact, they can even lead to safety behaviors. If social anxiety is a problem for you, it is important to learn about the role of safety behaviors, and see if you are using them to “play it safe” socially.

This blog post is the first in a series where I will give some common tips, and explain why they are actually counterproductive.

Tip 1. Pretend to be interested in other people

The self-improvement writer Dale Carnegie recommends that people pretend to be interested in what others are saying during conversation. While this may sound reasonable when we are trying to impress someone, it can actually backfire. First, the other person might sense a lack of genuine interest in the topic, and find it uncomfortable that the listener is pretending to be interested. Second, if the social interaction results in a positive response, the pretender is likely to attribute the success to their pretense of being interested, not that they were liked for who they are. Third, this sort of behavior can maintain unhelpful thoughts people have about themselves, such as “I’m so plain and boring”. Every social interaction is an opportunity for people to disconfirm these types of unhelpful thoughts. However, every time safety behaviors are used, an opportunity is missed.

Tip 2. Read over your emails at least 5 times

Many of us overemphasize the importance of wording in our emails. Whilst this may seem reasonable, it simply isn’t always helpful. In fact, some of the most successful people I have corresponded with send me emails full of spelling mistakes (probably due to auto spelling) and no formal structure. Life is too short to read emails more than a couple of times. Try sending emails without proofing them: it’s difficult at first, but then it becomes liberating. It becomes easier to respond from your phone or tablet, and can save you from thinking about the emails when you are doing something else!

In other news, I just had a peer reviewed paper on safety behaviors accepted in the Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research. Once it is in press, I will blog about this as well!

This week is the UK’s National Infertility Awareness Week. It is being organized by the Infertility Network UK, and runs from October 28-November 3. I’m very glad to see that awareness is growing for a problem that is rarely talked about publicly, but touches so many lives.

We are lucky to live in a time when medical advances are being made every day. Medication, operations, and IVF have enabled countless people to conceive who would not have had the opportunity just a decade ago. However, these options are not available to everyone, and the outcomes are not always successful. Being diagnosed with infertility problems typically comes with significant emotional and financial costs.

I am particularly interested in the stress, depression and anxiety that can result from fertility issues (please see my survey). A few weeks ago I discussed this topic in an interview with an Icelandic newspaper. I feel we need to be more sensitive when talking to people about their family planning. For example, the question “when are you going to have children?” is often inappropriate. It’s usually asked by well-meaning friends or family who have a genuine curiosity. However, if you take a moment to consider the reasons why someone does not have a child, you will see the list of possibilities is pretty short. It may be a decision of a personal nature, it may be due to relationship problems, or perhaps there are medical complications. In any of these cases, it’s not a good conversation to have over Thanksgiving dinner. In general, people will bring it up when and if they want to talk about it.

I encourage everyone to check out the National Infertility Awareness Week page, become involved, and think about how you approach these issues.

The AI-Therapy Blog

Computerized therapy articles

1.Computerized Therapy: Will Your Next Therapist Be a Computer?

2. Top 5 Myths about Computerized Therapy

3. The Future of Computerized Therapy

Did we say Overcome Social Anxiety correctly in your language?

When are you going to have children?