Social isolation is common in serious mental illness and has a profound negative impact on recovery. This study evaluates a new technology-supported blended intervention, mobile Social Interaction Therapy by Exposure (mSITE), that targets social behavior, and it also validates several new techniques for measuring social behavior. mSITE blends brief in-person psychotherapy with context-triggered mobile smartphone intervention and remote telephone coaching. The investigators will conduct an open trial of mSITE, evaluating whether the intervention leads to clinically significant changes in the frequency of social interactions. The investigators will also determine the dose of app plus remote coaching necessary to achieve this effect, by evaluating change at 12, 18, or 24 weeks. If found to be effective, a scalable intervention that reduces social isolation in serious mental illness would have significant personal, societal, and economic impact.
This open trial will test a new technology-supported blended intervention, mobile Social Interaction Therapy by Exposure (mSITE), that targets social engagement in consumers with serious mental illness.