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Susan Battista and Victor Day launched the Feeling Better Program. (Danny Abriel Photo)

Feeling stressed, depressed or anxious?

Dalhousie鈥檚 Counselling Services is test driving a new program called Feeling Better to help students with these problems.

It鈥檚 an online self-help program that takes a cognitive behavioural therapy approach.

Although students can already receive individual counselling and participate in group therapy through Dalhousie鈥檚 Counselling and Psychological Services, a program such as Feeling聽Better has different benefits.

鈥淭here are a variety of needs for this,鈥� explains Victor Day, director of the Counselling and Psychological Services Centre. 鈥淭here are the people who just want something for a mild range of problems. There are some people who by choice don鈥檛 want to come for individual personal counselling. And there are the people who can鈥檛.鈥�

That鈥檚 where Feeling Better comes into play.

鈥淔rom cognitive behavioural perspective, there are two main things to helping a person overcome a problem. One is helping them think differently, and the other is helping them learn different ways of behaving,鈥� says Dr. Day.

鈥淔or example, a person with an anxiety problem is often thinking of things as being more dangerous than they really are; so changing that thought is important. Also, people tend to avoid things they fear, and so the other part of the solution is to helping people get over their habit of avoidance. A student with social anxiety, for instance, may be overestimating the likelihood of being ridiculed or rejected, and so avoids talking to new people.聽

Through the program, students will learn to clarify their worst thoughts, then examine and change them. They can also learn methods of relaxation and work on gradual exposure to whatever is causing their anxiety, which will eventually eliminate that anxiety.

鈥淚t鈥檚 interactive, not just informative. It鈥檚 more like an online workbook in which people聽 fill out questionnaires that help clarify the nature of their problem, whether it鈥檚 anxiety, depression or stress; and then plan relevant activities to try,鈥� he says.

Feeling Better takes one or two hours per week, with weekly telephone or e-mail monitoring and program assistance from a project coach. Overall, Feeling Better takes approximately two months to fully complete.

Students will be screened for the program. They cannot have certain psychological problems that are more serious, such as psychosis, addiction problems, manic depression, eating disorders or suicidal thoughts or intent.

Also, if students find Feeling Better insufficient they will most likely be referred to Counselling Services.

鈥淭here are built-in ways within the program in which we will be able to look at which modules (students) find particularly helpful,鈥� adds Susan Battista, the Feeling Better program coordinator and coach. 鈥淭hey also have the option to provide feedback with each module.鈥�

Dr. Day says it was quite time consuming to design the content of the program.

鈥淵ou have to figure out how it鈥檚 going to interact with people, you have to anticipate different responses people may have and you have to figure out what would be the best sequence.鈥�

Students interested in the Feeling Better program can find it at