Gary O' Reilly1; 1School of Psychology, University College Dublin.
This paper will describe Pesky gNATs, a computer assisted Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) intervention for young people aged 9 years or older experiencing anxiety or low mood. Pesky gNATs is designed to assist mental health professionals to deliver a CBT intervention filtered through the ideas of developmental psychology and learning theory, packaged within a computer game, played within the supportive context of a therapeutic relationship. Pesky gNATs has three components: (1). A computer game that delivers a child friendly CBT intervention. The game is played in session by a young person along-side a mental health professional. The game has seven levels, each delivering a single component of a customized developmentally appropriate CBT intervention, designed to be the equivalent of a standard treatment session in length to play. The CBT concepts in each game level are related and build on each other over the course of the programme. (2). A mobile app - freely available to any young person playing the game to download to their smartphone or tablet. The Pesky gNATs App supports the young person’s application of the CBT ideas they learn in session to their everyday life at home and school. (3). An on-line training suite for mental health professionals allowing them to train to use our programme and download it to their work computer. This paper will also describe the evidence supporting Pesky gNATs and our plans for its future development.
