Psychlarity: Web Platform To Enhance Decision Making Process Of Psychotherapy

Abstract

Psychological therapy is fast becoming more and more accessible to people suffering from mental illnesses. The incorporation of technology with therapy has not yet reached its full potential and many people fail to understand the importance and benefits of utilizing technology to enhance face-to-face therapy and not replace it. Dealing with mental illness requires a human connection and cannot be replaced with a computer. However, it is possible to use technology to improve the therapeutic alliance formed and encourage the patient to be more engaged during face-to-face sessions thereby improving the quality of the therapy provided. Providing a cost effective and reliable solution was a key focus when implementing this project. Creating a web application that allows therapists to track patient’s progress on their homework in between sessions will improve the engagement of the patient throughout the sessions, as the patient will feel as though the therapist is still continuing the session and will strive to complete the simple homework tasks that they have received. This research project strives to use technology to apply process enforcement on the homework given to patients in between their therapy sessions. The use of the Beck Anxiety and Depression Inventory to help measure the levels of anxiety and depressive thoughts in the patients provides an automated approach to helping therapists fully diagnose the patient faster, as well as the automated assignment of homework tasks to help the therapist attend to more patients and provide a more specific set of tasks to the patient over time. The overall analysis of Psychlarity from all the experts were positive with suggestions for future enhancements for this system. This framework could decide feasibility for any long-term investment.