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Unlexi: Developing a Prototype of a Digital Emotion-Focused Therapy Tool for Alexithymia
Kanako Tsubaki1, Samina Abidi1
1Medical Informatics Program, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Background:
Alexithymia-difficulty identifying and expressing emotions-is positively correlated with multiple psychiatric disorders and complicates psychotherapy, yet remains under-addressed.
Objective:
To develop a prototype for a clinician-linked digital Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) called Unlexi, a homework-style model.
Methods:
We developed the prototype with eligibility excluding acute states and requiring TAS-20 ≥ 51 with Readiness for Therapy Questionnaire screening. In the prototype, 12 weekly EFT modules are delivered with brief felt-sense pauses and a safety "Pause" triggering. NLP analyzes free text/voice to generate immediate sentiment feedback for users and clinicians.
Results:
The prototype comprises 129 screens (23 for clinicians, 110 for patients).
Conclusions:
Validated by the originator of EFT for clinical fidelity, Unlexi is now moving toward app development and subsequent feasibility testing.
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