Content Upgrades to Core Programmes

This article is to let you know about upgrades to our core depression and anxiety programmes. These upgrades will go live on the 16th of December, 2019. Client feedback, supporter feedback and support requests have driven these changes and they are designed to make the programs easier for the client to use.

Many thanks to all of you who let us know how you are using our programmes, what you like and where we can improve.

1. Thinking Traps

In the Spotting Thoughts module we have changed thinking errors to thinking traps. We received lots of feedback that the name ‘thinking errors’ is judgmental and can make people feel worse, there are too many thinking errors, and they are difficult to tell apart. The goal with these changes was to simplify the content.

Name change: ‘Thinking Errors’ to ‘Thinking Traps’

We have grouped the thinking traps as follows:

1. Blowing Things Out of Proportion (includes Catastrophising / Black or White Thinking / All or Nothing Thinking / Overgeneralising)
2. Jumping to Conclusions (includes Mind-reading & Predicting the Future)
3. Negative Filter (includes Discounting the Positive)
4. Emotional Reasoning
5. Word Prisons
6. Labeling

      2. TFB Cycle Improvements

In the TFB cycle we have removed the “thinking errors” dropdown. Clients are no longer asked to label their thought with a thinking error. Some clients reported difficulty in being able to correctly label their thought with a specific thinking error. The hot thought functionality remains unchanged.

We have also removed the final “evaluation” box which frequently caused clients confusion. The box in the image below will not appear.

These changes will be in place for all new users. Any users that have selected a thinking error or filled in the evaluation section will continue to be able to see and edit their content.

     3. Graded Exposure

In our graded exposure content in the Facing Your Fears module, we now ask the client to identify a “target goal” rather than a “target fear”. The tool name has changed from “hierarchy of fears” to “facing your fears” and now offers the client a robust way to plan and record their graded exposure activities.

     4. Managing Worry

In the Managing Worry module, some users found it hard to differentiate between real worries and hypothetical worries; so we have changed ‘Real’ worries to ‘Practical’ worries to simplify the content and help users grasp the concept more easily.

    5. Self-Harm advice

In the Getting Started module, we now offer more general distraction techniques, as well as the specific self-harm techniques.