[Cognitive behavior therapy via Internet. Patients with tinnitus are helped to manage their problem--simpler and...

Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is effective in reducing distress in tinnitus patients. To make CBT more available, an Internet-based self-help treatment has been used since 1999 at the department of Audiology, Uppsala University hospital. After initial medical and psychological assessment the patients get access to the Internet treatment. The treatment programme is divided into six weeks, and each week the patient chooses treatment components, reads information and instructions, plans the training and then practises during one week. The patient prints out registration sheets and reports the progress at the web site, receiving E-mail feedback from the therapist. It is important to keep in contact with the patient. The efficacy of the treatment has been shown in two randomised controlled studies, showing significantly better result then a waiting-list control group and equal result compared to a CBT group treatment respectively. A recent replication showed that the results can be generalised to a clinical setting.