Research group at Utah State releases online mental health program
A new online self-help guide is intended to provide Utah State University students with another option for mental health care.
The program, called the ACT Guide, was released in September and is based upon a form of treatment called acceptance and commitment therapy, or ACT.
The guide was developed by the Utah State University ACT Research Group.
To Michael Levin, the co-director of the research group, ACT means “learning how to open up to difficult thoughts and feelings in a self-compassionate way and how to identify what really matters to you.”
Levin is also a professor of psychology at USU and the main developer for the ACT Guide, which was a culmination of more than a decade of his research on ACT.
“It teaches a set of core psychological skills we find helpful for improving quality of life and addressing a wide range of different mental health issues,” Levin said.
The ACT Guide is available online from the Sorensen Center for Clinical Excellence and the USU ACT Research Group at https://scce.usu.edu/services/act-guide/.
Currently, there is a $10 access fee that pays for licensing fees and having a graduate student to maintain the program so the guide can continue to be available online.
Once registered, users have unlimited access to the guide for 6 months, including 12 sessions that walk the user through key ACT skills.
The guide uses a combination of interactive multi-select options and open-ended questions to tailor the experience to the individual. This allows the user to focus on issues that matter to them and set personalized goals.
“The great thing about ACT is that it kind of has something for everyone in it,” said Carter Davis, a graduate student who worked on developing the ACT Guide with Levin.
One of his roles was taking all the content they had from the years of research and making it easy to use in the guide.
“Wherever you’re coming from,” Davis said, “it can feel like it’s helpful to you and your situation.”
“I think the ACT Guide is one of the more complete and full and tested online interventions that I’ve seen,” Michael P. Twohig, USU psychology professor, said.
Twohig is also Levin’s fellow co-director of the ACT Research Group and collaborator on the ACT Guide. Twohig and Levin began their work together seven years ago when Levin first came to USU and began the ACT Research Group in 2017.
“We need to find ways to provide these services to the massive number of people who need it,” Twohig said. “And the idea of doing a one-on-one is not going to work. And it’s shown here on campus just how complicated it is to keep up with every person if you’re going to see them one-on-one.”
“There’s a lot of students looking for support,” Levin said. “Our counseling centers do a fantastic job, but for a variety of reasons there are students who are in need of additional support that I think online can offer.”
However, Levin does not think online therapy is better than face-to-face therapy or should replace it altogether.
“I feel really strongly that if people are able to and willing to, I think that going to meet with a mental health professional and receiving therapy is still the best option,” Levin said. “And I always encourage people to do that, particularly if they’re in noticeable distress.”
According to the ACT Research Group, the online aspect of the new guide is not only about providing more options to students. There are several other advantages to online therapy, including reaching out to students who are too busy to schedule an appointment with a therapist or who are uncomfortable with face-to-face meetings.
“Unfortunately, there’s still a stigma associated with mental health and getting mental health services,” said Gretchen Peacock, the executive director of the Sorenson Legacy Foundation Center for Clinical Excellence, or SCCE. “So the ACT Guide may be a way around that, too.”
Levin said Peacock was instrumental in supporting the ACT Guide and getting it out to the public.
“Both Mike Levin and Mike Twohig are very productive researchers who are really well known within their field and particularly in the ACT field,” Peacock said. “People like that — that have good ideas that are based in research and have ideas about how to transport those into the real-world environment — that’s who we want to support.”
The ACT Research Group collaborated with Peacock in the SCCE and — with monetary support from the dean’s office and the College of Education — prepared the guide for public release.
“That’s what I’m really excited for,” Levin said about the release. “I’ve been studying this for so long, finding it’s helpful.”
But, he said, there is a gap in the field of psychology where programs found to be useful are not being released to the public for a variety of reasons, like cost.
To avoid these huge startup and maintenance costs, the ACT Research Group went through an existing platform called Qualtrics. Going through this platform also avoids high access fees for users. Levin hopes one day the ACT Guide can be completely free to use.
“College mental health is so important and we really need low-cost additional resources like this,” Levin said.
The ACT Guide was created with college students in mind but addresses a wide range of mental health issues that can apply to any adult. This wide appeal has extended the ACT Guide’s reach beyond Logan, Utah and even the United States. In nearly a month of public availability, the research group has seen registrations from all over the world, particularly in Europe and Australia.
“We care a lot about Utah, but then also, it’s really good to have that outside,” Peacock said.
Levin said the program, at its core, is for anyone looking to improve their mental health or just want “ways to expand their ability to do the things that really matter to them.”
“I think we all could use some help and some guidance,” said Davis. “One thing ACT focuses on as a treatment is your personal values and sort of choosing directions in your life based on what matters to you.”
—william.bultez@aggiemail.usu.edu
@willistheginger