A CBT-Based App Is Helping Young People Manage Their Anxiety
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Anxiety is a condition nearly all of us confront. For young people—who also face the challenge of developing their bodies, minds, skills, and social relations—anxiety is a particular dilemma. Now an app made by behavioral health professionals is bringing help to young people who either can’t access or don’t choose to work directly with counselors.
CBT (not to be confused with the cannabis ingredient CBD!) stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It’s a proven method for addressing a range of mental and emotional health issues, from substance use disorder to PSTD, depression, anger management, phobias—and yes, anxiety.
Usually, people looking for help with these issues practice CBT with a trained counselor. But the unfortunate truth is that mental health professionals are in short supply. The wait to see a counselor can be a long one. Cost, location, and insurance challenges often add to the difficulty.
That’s where a new app, Maya, comes in. Developed by a team at Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, Maya guides users through a range of questions, exercises, videos, and readings derived from CBT, all with the aim of teaching new skills and ways of framing anxiety issues.
Studies of the app’s effective have so far focused on young people. The results have been encouraging, with a large majority of participants reporting improvements with anxiety management and alleviation. “It will be challenging to meet the mental health needs of society based on the number of clinical providers we have,” says psychologist Faith Gunning, leader of the first clinical study. “Our initial results suggest the app may be an effective tool to bridge the gap for people waiting to see a therapist.”
The Maya app is free (also advertisement-free!) and available for Apple and Android devices. You can read more about it here:
