**Applications Now Open!**

Symptoms of worry, stress, low mood, or enjoying life less, are common across all age groups, including in mature adults. Unfortunately, many adults aged 60+ years have difficulty accessing resources to help them manage these symptoms.

For this reason, the eCentreClinic has partnered with beyondblue: the National Depression Initiative, to build and evaluate new free online Courses specifically for adults aged 60+ years. These Courses target issues relevant to mature adults including changing roles, changes in health, and maintaining independence.

The eCentreClinic offers two free online Courses to help mature adults understand and manage symptoms of worry, stress, and low mood, and improve overall wellbeing. The aim of these Courses is to support adults to learn practical skills for managing these symptoms, so that they can get back to leading an enjoyable and rewarding life. The two Courses we offer are:

Not sure which Course is right for you? Please call us on (02) 9850-9645 to speak to one of our Psychologists.

What do the Courses involve?

The Managing Your Mood and Managing Stress and Anxiety Courses run over 8 weeks. Participation involves completing lessons and homework tasks online via our website. These Courses include:

• 5 lessons that teach you techniques for reducing symptoms
• Homework activities to help people practice the new techniques
• Weekly email and telephone support from a Clinical Psychologist (Treatment Group) OR weekly reminder emails (Control Group)
• Lots of additional resources

These Courses are designed to provide adults (60+ years) with the information that you would normally receive from a mental health professional. Please note: We expect that during the Course each person will invest at least 4 hours each week reading the materials and practicing the skills described in those materials.

Both Courses contain information about stress, anxiety and low mood, as well as techniques for managing:

• Unhelpful thinking and worrying
• Unhelpful behaviours, low confidence, and symptoms of panic

These techniques have been tested in research trials and shown to be highly effective. You will also be asked to complete questionnaires before, during and after treatment so that we can track your progress.

Who are these Courses Suitable For?

The Managing Your Mood and Managing Stress and Anxiety Courses are suitable for all adults (60+ years) who:

• Are experiencing symptoms of stress, anxiety, worry or low mood
• Want to improve the quality of their lives and emotional wellbeing

Unfortunately we cannot include people who are currently suicidal, or who do not have access to the Internet, or who are not Australian residents. We also cannot accept anyone who is currently undergoing psychological treatment for anxiety or depression. Before applying, please read some important information about our Courses here. Please do read this information if you have not already. You can also find out more by reading our Frequently Asked Questions.

Not sure if our Courses are right for you? Please feel free to email us, or contact us on (02) 9850-9645.

Our First Research Trials

We have now completed "Pilot trials" of the Managing Your Mood and Managing Stress and Anxiety Courses. In these trials 20+ people completed each of the two Courses over 8 weeks. Each participant was contacted weekly by a Clinical Psychologist who answered questions, provided support and helped participants to learn to reduce their symptoms. The majority of participants made very good progress, and results were sustained 3 months after the Courses finished. Importantly, people reported these Courses were worth their time and the majority said they would recommend these Courses to friends with similar symptoms.

Future Courses

Applications for the 2012 Phase of the Managing Your Mood and Managing Stress and Anxiety Courses are now open. Please click on the 'ApplyNow!' button below to start the application process. Please feel free to email us, or contact us on (02) 9850-9645 if you have any questions.