Spouse or Significant Other Wellbeing Course

The self-guided SSO Wellbeing Course was designed to be helpful for spouses and significant others of first responders and other public safety personnel (PSP) who are looking for a new way to access services to improve their wellbeing, perhaps because of barriers for accessing care such as:

• geographical barriers (e.g., difficulty accessing care while posted to remote locations);
• logistical barriers (e.g., shift work limits access to standard service hours, busy work and family life);
• stigma barriers (e.g., perceptions of being evaluated negatively for having mental health concerns); or
• limited resources (e.g., insufficient access)

An internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (ICBT) course called the Wellbeing Course was originally developed at Macquarie University in Australia and was then adapted and researched by the Online Therapy Unit at the University of Regina. The Wellbeing Course has shown success as a treatment for anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. PSPNET then adapted the Wellbeing Course for PSP. The SSO Wellbeing Course is a version of the PSP Wellbeing Course developed for spouses and significant others of PSP.

The self-guided SSO Wellbeing Course is an internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) program. ICBT involves using the internet to deliver the same treatment content that is normally covered in face-to-face cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for symptoms of depression, anxiety, or posttraumatic stress. Lesson materials are presented online.

• There are 5 main lessons, but extra materials are available to provide support for problems not directly addressed in the main lessons (e.g., communicating with your spouse, PTSD, sleep concerns, motivation, anger, problem solving). Each lesson typically takes clients 1 hour to review the materials online. Clients may access these materials for up to 6 months.
• Lessons are presented in an engaging manner, and assignments are given at the end of each lesson to help with learning the strategies. Clients are typically sent automated emails that encourage them to complete the lessons.

The self-guided SSO Wellbeing Course can be completed at your own pace over 6 months, but we generally recommend that clients review the materials over 8 weeks.  Each lesson typically takes clients 1 hour to review the materials online and then we encourage you to practice the skills on a regular basis.

The SSO Wellbeing Course is NOT therapist-assisted.

PSPNET Families is a research unit. As such, when your information is used for research and scholarly purposes, we de-identify the information used for these purposes. This means that your information will only ever be analyzed and presented in a way such that you are not identifiable.

Before enrolling in the study and again at 8 weeks after enrolling in the study, we ask clients to complete questionnaires to help us evaluate the SSO Wellbeing Course. We also ask clients to complete extremely brief questionnaires during the course. Participants may also be invited to participate in a phone or Zoom interview.

This feedback is reviewed by the research team to help us understand the strengths and challenges of the SSO Wellbeing Course and how to improve the course. We want to understand the extent to which spouses and significant others of PSP will engage with the course and also how the course will impact symptoms. These questionnaires do not take very long, but they provide us with important information on your progress and the outcomes of ICBT.

Yes! The self-guided SSO Wellbeing Course has available in French here.

For information about the self-guided SSO Wellbeing Course, contact 1-833-317-7233, or email pspnetfamilies@uregina.ca.