Generalized Anxiety Program
A program made available
thanks to the collaboration of:
LA FONDATION COURTOIS
Does this sound like you?
Generalized Anxiety at a Glance
Generalized Anxiety involves frequent, persistent and excessive worrying about a number of events or activities in daily life. Many people say they “worry about everything” and find worry uncontrollable, making it difficult to switch off or relax. It can also involve irritability, physical symptoms of anxiety such as feeling on edge, difficulties with sleep, concentration, difficulties tolerating uncertainty and avoiding triggers of worry.
Fortunately, generalized anxiety is very treatable, and many people who seek help can get better. This program will teach you practical skills to tackle chronic worrying and improve the way you feel.
About the Generalized Anxiety Program
This 6-lesson program is based on an effective psychological treatment for generalized anxiety and worry called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (or CBT). It is designed to teach you proven strategies for tackling your symptoms and show you how to work with your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours so you can make a positive change in how you feel. It may be especially helpful to you if you’ve been previously diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (or GAD) and haven’t had CBT in the past.
This program may be suitable for you if:
- You tend to worry a lot about many different things (e.g., situations or events throughout your day, your study or work, finances, health, loved ones, and what’s happening in the world)
- Once you start to worry, it tends to grow in intensity and becomes hard to control
- Worrying makes it hard for you to focus on other things or carry on with your usual activities
- You seem to be stuck in the way you feel and would love to learn how to get out of this cycle
- You are ready and willing to learn new skills to change the way you feel
What You Will Learn
Throughout this program, you will follow an illustrated story of ‘Liz’ as she learns how to manage her worry and change a number of unhelpful behaviours that tend to maintain and worsen her anxiety. Each lesson focuses on teaching you a practical skill you can use to begin changing the vicious cycle of worry. Once you complete a lesson, you will have 5 days to practise your new skill before the next lesson becomes available.
Introduction to GAD and strategies to begin tackling physical symptoms.
Strategies to begin tackling anxiety-provoking thoughts and worries.
Strategies to tackle specific problems and begin to shift unhelpful beliefs.
Strategies to build confidence when facing challenging situations.
Strategies to begin transforming the source of worry and anxiety-provoking thoughts.
Strategies to keep improving in the long run.
Access convenient, discreet, and effective online self-help…
What’s Included
Each of our programs has been designed to help you get the most out of self-guided learning and provides you with a range of materials to support you on your recovery journey.
Lessons
Story-based lessons that teach core coping skills .
Workbooks
Exercises designed to help you tackle your symptoms.
Action Plans
Step-by-step activities to help you put new skills into practice .
Extra Resources
Tools to help you overcome common challenges .
Alerts & Reminders
Reminder e-mails and texts to help you stay on track .
Progress Tracking
Questionnaires to help you monitor your well-being .
How to Get Started
Option 1
Enroll in this program as ‘self-help’ and complete it independently, or
Option 2
Speak with your regular clinician (e.g., your GP, psychologist, or other health professional) and see if they can prescribe you this program and monitor you throughout your online treatment. You can download and take the Clinician Letter to your appointment.
Choose to start right away or speak
with your clinician about this program
Enroll as self-help
- You have free access to the program for 90 days.
- Get almost immediate access to the program and start right away.
- Extra 12 months of access once completed.
- Accessible to Quebec residents only
Get a prescription
- You have free access to the program for 90 days.
- Your clinician can monitor how you are
- Extra 12 months of access once completed.
- Accessible to Quebec residents only
Download a Clinician Letter:
Please note: our programs have not been evaluated in populations who have been diagnosed as having schizophrenia or bipolar disorder; people who are dependent on drugs or alcohol; or take sedative medication (e.g., Valium, lorazepam) daily. More tailored, intensive, face-to-face support from a clinician may be more suitable for these populations and for people who are thinking about suicide. We recommend that such individuals seek clinician support and medical advice before enrolling in a self-guided online treatment program for their mental health.
Frequently Asked Questions
ver the years, THIS WAY UP virtual clinic in Australia has helped many individuals improve their mental health through clinical trials and online programs. If you have any questions about this program, check out the FAQs below or get in touch with us.
People who worry about everything, or people who feel that their level of worry interferes with their daily life, sleep, health, work, relationships, or leisure activities.
This program may not be suitable for people whose worry and anxiety focus on a specific area, such as their health, social situations, panic attacks, or a traumatic event experienced in adulthood. Our team is currently developing programs that will address these specific issues.
This program may also not be suitable for people whose anxiety is associated with:
- Bipolar Disorder – please visit here to find help.
- Schizophrenia – please visit here to find help.
- Drug or Alcohol Dependence – please visit here to find help.
To get the best results, this program requires active participation and is designed to be completed within 90 days at most. It is best to do one lesson every week or two and allow time to practise new skills between lessons.
Once a lesson is completed, there is a compulsory 5-day waiting period between lessons, to allow for skill practice.
This program is free of charge.
The amount of support you receive will depend on the way you choose to do this program.
If your clinician, doctor, psychologist or other mental health professional prescribes it, they will have access to the program and your well-being scores, so you can check in with them about your progress and how you feel.
If you do the program as ‘self-help’, there is no clinical support available because the program is completely automated, although you can contact us for any technical difficulties. However, provided you complete all six lessons, the results will be as good as with supervision.
The best place to seek advice about treatment options for your specific symptoms and situation is from your GP or a mental health care provider.
To make the most of the program we recommend completing a lesson every 1-2 weeks and practising the skills that you learn regularly. Make sure that you download and save all of the downloadable program materials so you can come back and review the strategies later on.
If your regular clinician is registered with ēquilia, they will email you a personalized link allowing you to register using our secure online system.
Here’s how to discuss this option with your health professional:
Step 1. Make an appointment with your clinician (e.g., your GP, Medical Specialist, Psychologist or other Mental Health Professional).
Step 2. Download, print, and take the Clinician Letter (Quebec) to your appointment. This letter outlines some information about how your clinician can register with ēquilia and prescribe our programs using our online system.
Step 3. Ask your clinician if they are familiar with ēquilia and tell them about the program you’d like to do.
If your clinician is new to ēquilia, they may need some time to register and get to know our system, so you may not be able to get a program prescription right away.
If your clinician is able to prescribe and monitor you throughout the program, they will send you a ‘prescription’ e–mail called a “Quickscript” via our system with details on how to enroll.
Please note, it is up to individual clinicians to decide whether it is appropriate for them to prescribe and monitor you through one of our programs. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that your clinician will be able to assist you.
However, our programs are available as ‘self-help’, so if this option is suitable for you, you can enroll and receive up to 12 months of access.
When you enroll in this program as ‘self-help’ you will be guided through the lessons by our system and will be completing it independently.
Our team is here to provide technical assistance, but we are not able to answer clinical questions or give you personalized advice about your health.
When you enroll in this program under the ‘supervision’ of your regular clinician (e.g., your GP, psychologist, psychiatrist, or other health professional), they will be able to view your progress and well-being scores, and will be able to check in on you should you require further assistance.
You may also be able to check in with them about your particular symptoms or seek further guidance on implementing the strategies you learn.
Some clinicians may choose to prescribe this program as part of your face-to-face or telehealth sessions.
Some clinicians may choose to recommend that you enroll in this program as ‘self-help’ and support you throughout without formally prescribing it to you.
The Science Behind This Program
This program is based on established clinical practice guidelines. It has also been evaluated in randomized controlled trials and studies in real-world settings, including:
Robinson et al. (2010) | Mewton et al. (2012) | Hobbs et al. (2017) | Mahoney et al. (2021)
Why choose ēquilia?
Online Programs That Work
The creators of THIS WAY UP have been developing and releasing scientifically supported online mental health programs for over a decade. They ensure that these programs help individuals achieve real positive results by conducting clinical research and adhering to the best practice guidelines in the treatment of mental health conditions.
The ēquilia virtual platform now makes these programs available in Quebec and Ontario, and continues research in this field in Canada.
For Clinicians
Did you know that you can use this evidence-based online program in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder?
According to the clinical practice guidelines, internet-delivered CBT forms part of the stepped-care approach to treatment.
As a registered ēquilia clinician, you can prescribe the Generalized Anxiety Program to your clients and stay informed of their progress.