Internet-based Interventions: From Efficacy to Active Components and Clinical Application
Prof. Dr. Thomas Berger
Webinar April 1st 2026, 17:00 – 18:30 CEST
Over the past three decades, extensive research and growing implementation efforts have established internet-based interventions as a part of mental healthcare, helping to reduce access barriers. These interventions encompass video-based therapy, guided and unguided self-management programs, and blended treatments that combine digital and face-to-face elements.
Hundreds of randomised trials and meta-analyses demonstrate their efficacy across a wide range of disorders. After this extensive phase of research on efficacy and legitimation, the focus has shifted from whether these treatments work to understanding which components work, how they work, for whom they work, and under which conditions they are most effective. A key advantage of digital formats for research is the high level of standardisation and control over treatment elements. This enables innovative experimental designs, such as factorial trials, which are particularly suited to identifying active components and mechanisms of change within rigorous experimental studies.
Thomas Berger provides an overview of the current evidence on the efficacy of internet-based interventions and highlights findings on the active components and mechanisms of change based on recent factorial trials. It also illustrates how this knowledge can inform the clinical application of internet-based treatments. The webinar concludes with an overview of current challenges and recent developments in implementing digital interventions in routine clinical practice.
The Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR) organises a new four-part webinar series dedicated to expanding skills in psychotherapy and integrating recent scientific developments. The series is organised by Prof. Christoph Flückiger and Prof. Sigal Zilcha-Mano and is aimed at researchers, clinicians, and others interested in evidence-based developments in mental health care.
The RECONNECTED Project, is represented in this series by Prof. Thomas Berger, who will share his knowledge and expertise in the Webinar.
The Webinar
Date: April 1st, 2026
Time: 17:00–18:30 Central European Summer Time / 11:00–12:30 Eastern Daylight Time
Register: Zoom Registration
Speaker: Prof. Thomas Berger (University Bern, RECONNECTED Project)
Previous webinars from this series can be accessed here, and future events are listed on the SPR calendar.