Advancing cognitive therapy for anxiety disorders and PTSD

Anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are very common, persistent and disabling. We have developed leading psychological therapies for social anxiety disorder, panic disorder and PTSD.

We now plan to harness the power of the internet to make the treatments more widely available and to further improve their effectiveness. Internet-delivered versions of their treatments that require much less therapist time and can be delivered anywhere will be developed and tested in randomised controlled trials.

Dissemination of the treatments within NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services will create a large database that will enable rigorous study of moderators (who respond less well) and mediators (key psychological mechanisms) of therapeutic improvement, in order to identify targets for further treatment development. Modifications of the treatments will then be evaluated.