MindTrails Project- a new, online anxiety-reduction program

Do you struggle with extreme anxiety? The Teachman PACT lab at the University of Virginia is looking for adults (age 18 and older) who struggle with anxiety symptoms to enroll in a new, FREE online anxiety-reduction program. We are recruiting participants to help us learn how we can help individuals combat anxiety via online training.


To determine if your eligibility for the study, visit https://mindtrails.virginia.edu and click on "Get Started Now."


The study involved 5 sessions over the course of 5 weeks, each lasting 20 minutes or less, as well as one 15 minute assessment 2 months later.


All training sessions and assessments can be completed on a computer, phone, or tablet.


For more information, please visit https://mindtrails.virginia.edu or contact:
PACT LAB
Department of Psychology, University of Virginia
Email: studyteam@mindtrails.org
IRB: 2017-0234-00
PI: Bethany Teachman

Is this free?

Yes! This is a free, online program available to anyone 18 years or older.

I think it's worth being a bit clearer about what you are offering.

It mentions telephone coaching but most members here are outside of the US and that could be costly. Could that be achieved on Skype, for instance.

The programme mentions you are assigned a random group and therefore not aimed at helping us but rather the research team.

Whilst there is obvious cross over between many anxiety disorders, and bearing in mind in the UK we don't use the DSM hence there will be the potential for our conditions to differ not only in name but in diagnostic criteria, are there likely to be situations where someone could join to find it irrelevant to them? I ask this because people may be in all sorts of severity on here and this needs to perhaps be made more clear it's not a treatment (the quote below suggests no anxiety specific help at all) for them in the same way say a CBT online programme may be?

If you were not in the training condition, you will be given the opportunity to complete the training condition that we think is most effective for reducing feelings of anxiety.

This isn't meant as negative criticism as it looks an interesting piece for those willing to sign up to help research which may later become more mainstream, and others post research programmes from time to time, and it can be hard accessing therapy so some may get some faster support. It's just that some may have a different expectation. As a source this is obviously credible.

Thank you for expressing your questions and concerns. In regards to your first concern, telephone coaching is done through GoogleVoice, so it is free for the participants. Regarding the randomization, it is essential for the study to utilize randomization for the integrity of the data and results. We believe that the program can be relevant and useful for those struggling with health anxiety, GAD, social anxiety, and other forms of anxiety.