Sessions with a consultant psychiatrist, clinical psychiatrist or counsellor are effective ways of treating conditions (usually alongside medication) like anxiety and depression, however, they're often time consuming and expensive and the results can differ widely between patients.  A new kind of treatment may offer a practical, effective alternative for some patients.

Cognitive-bias modication (CBM) seems to work well after only a few short (sometimes only 15 minutes or so) sessions, requires no additional medication and does not require any sensitive personal discussions about relationships or emotions.  Specialist practitioners could be dispensed with too, as CBM uses computer programs to 'adjust' harmful thought patterns.

CBM has already been shown to have huge clinical potential in a number of areas, such as the treatment of anxiety and depression.  New research published this month has shown it to have potential to treat addictions, particularly alcohol abuse, just as well too.

CBM is premised upon the view that psychological problems are caused by unconscious and involuntary biases in thought patterns.  Those with anxiety, for example, may have a bias towards perceiving risks in a heightened manner.

The process of adjusting thought bias using computers revolves around repeatedly showing a patient a number of images, one of which may  be associated with a disorder, another of which will be 'neutral'.  The program then encourages patients to conduct or complete tasks involving the 'neutral' image which, after repetition, begins to alter the patients' bias.

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