Designing personalized mental health interventions for anxiety: CBT therapists’ perspective

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problem, and cognitive-behavioral therapy is one of the most widely used, evidence-based treatments. While several mobile apps for anxiety that integrate cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques exist, major challenges remain concerning uptake and engagement. Personalization is one strategy that can be used to improve client engagement, and integrating therapist input is one mechanism for such personalization. This study aims to understand therapist practices and identify new possibilities for delivering intervention content between face-to-face CBT therapy sessions. It comprised semi-structured interviews, followed by a series of ideation activities, and thematic analysis of the data. The results showed the central role of clients in shaping the content of therapy sessions, their challenges with homework practice, and therapists’ diverse practices. Analysis of the ideation activities elaborated the potential role of therapists in the personalization of apps for anxiety. We conclude with takeaways for designers of personalized mental health mobile applications.