Many psychological interventions have been shown to be effective in reducing distress and improving well-being, yet these interventions are not always accessible and available to all who need them. Over the past 10 years, there has been increasing awareness that evidence-based, cost-effective, scalable psychological interventions are needed for meeting mental health care demands in diverse contexts around the world. In response to this need, the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed and tested several scalable interventions, including Self-Help Plus (SH+), a 5-session, group-based stress management course for adults based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).
SH+ was designed to be delivered to large groups of participants (e.g., up to 30 participants at a time) by briefly-trained, non-specialist facilitators. SH+ has been evaluated in three randomized controlled trials and has proven to be effective for reducing moderate to severe distress, reducing depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms, improving functioning and subjective well-being, and preventing the onset of mental disorders. This webinar will describe SH+ and how it was developed, review the research on its effectiveness, and discuss its potential for use with military populations and military families. Participants will be able to describe the unique features and strengths of SH+ and identify potential applications of SH+ in military contexts.
Learning Objectives:
Attendees will be able to:
- Distinguish Self-Help Plus from other stress interventions based on its unique features.
- Evaluate research on the effectiveness of Self-Help Plus
- Appraise potential applications of Self-Help Plus in military contexts