From cold to mental well-being: effects of combining short group psychotherapy and winter swimming (Kylmäuinti)
Main funder
Funder's project number: 3dbdad
Funds granted by main funder (€)
- 100 000,00
Funding program
Project timetable
Project start date: 09/10/2024
Project end date: 30/09/2027
Summary
Background and need for the project: Mental health problems are the leading cause of disability in Finland. One in five people suffer from mental health problems that threaten their ability to cope at work and progress in their studies. More and more young people are experiencing anxiety that disrupts their daily lives and impairs their ability to function. Despite good results, the approach of existing psychotherapies ignores the growing knowledge of the psychophysiological responses associated with anxiety. The treatment of anxiety should therefore pay more attention to the client's perceived ability to regulate his or her affect and psychophysiological responses, and to support the development of regulation and activate mechanisms that calm the nervous system. Exposure to cold water, rather than winter swimming, has been shown to have such effects. Although the psychophysiological effects of winter swimming on health have been studied, we have little information on its effects on mental health. There has been little research on the purposeful use of winter swimming as a wellbeing enhancer as part of a more traditional psychotherapeutic process. However, previous research on mental wellbeing has yielded promising results.
Aim: The project will develop a rehabilitation model for the treatment of anxiety, combining a brief psychotherapy group focusing on strengthening emotional regulation with a joint winter swimming session. The aim is to improve the mental health of the participants and to strengthen their self-management skills after rehabilitation. The psychotherapy focuses on emotional skills: fears and how to face them, recognizing one's own limits, courage and challenging oneself, anger and how to express it safely, body-mind connection and how to strengthen it, emotions and ways of regulating emotions, recognizing and regulating one's state of arousal, self-awareness and self-acceptance, self-criticism and self-compassion, the importance of one's own history in emotional expression, presence and calming down, resources and strengths. In addition to the development of the model, its effects will be studied in cooperation between the psychotherapists developing the model and the University of Jyväkylä, among young adults suffering from anxiety symptoms.
Project implementation. Two groups combining the brief psychotherapy group and the winter swimming session will take place during the project to study the impact of the intervention model. In addition, control groups will be set up: one group will only participate in the brief psychotherapy group with the same content (2 groups) and the other only in the winter swimming session. Their well-being will be monitored through a series of self-assessments and psychophysiological measurements. The groups are run by psychotherapists Airo and Lehtonen. The project manager is Associate Professor Aro, who is responsible for overall project implementation and reporting. The research team includes Assistant Professor Kykyri and University Researcher Penttonen, who are involved in the design, data analysis and reporting of the study. The project will employ a research assistant to collect the data and project researchers. The final data analysis and reporting will be carried out in the last year of operation.
Monitoring and evaluation: An evaluation study will be carried out on the development of the project and the impact of the policy as described above.
Outcomes and impact: In addition to improving the mental health of participants, the project will generate researched evidence on the role of winter swimming as part of a new approach to treating depression and anxiety. At its best, winter swimming speeds up the therapeutic process and increases the client's self-care contribution, with cost benefits for the psychotherapy provider and the client.
Dissemination: in addition to the final Kela report, a written description of the model will be produced and national training on the combination of winter swimming and psychotherapy will be provided for psychotherapists, and possibly other health professionals working in the field of mental well-being and prevention of mental health problems.
Aim: The project will develop a rehabilitation model for the treatment of anxiety, combining a brief psychotherapy group focusing on strengthening emotional regulation with a joint winter swimming session. The aim is to improve the mental health of the participants and to strengthen their self-management skills after rehabilitation. The psychotherapy focuses on emotional skills: fears and how to face them, recognizing one's own limits, courage and challenging oneself, anger and how to express it safely, body-mind connection and how to strengthen it, emotions and ways of regulating emotions, recognizing and regulating one's state of arousal, self-awareness and self-acceptance, self-criticism and self-compassion, the importance of one's own history in emotional expression, presence and calming down, resources and strengths. In addition to the development of the model, its effects will be studied in cooperation between the psychotherapists developing the model and the University of Jyväkylä, among young adults suffering from anxiety symptoms.
Project implementation. Two groups combining the brief psychotherapy group and the winter swimming session will take place during the project to study the impact of the intervention model. In addition, control groups will be set up: one group will only participate in the brief psychotherapy group with the same content (2 groups) and the other only in the winter swimming session. Their well-being will be monitored through a series of self-assessments and psychophysiological measurements. The groups are run by psychotherapists Airo and Lehtonen. The project manager is Associate Professor Aro, who is responsible for overall project implementation and reporting. The research team includes Assistant Professor Kykyri and University Researcher Penttonen, who are involved in the design, data analysis and reporting of the study. The project will employ a research assistant to collect the data and project researchers. The final data analysis and reporting will be carried out in the last year of operation.
Monitoring and evaluation: An evaluation study will be carried out on the development of the project and the impact of the policy as described above.
Outcomes and impact: In addition to improving the mental health of participants, the project will generate researched evidence on the role of winter swimming as part of a new approach to treating depression and anxiety. At its best, winter swimming speeds up the therapeutic process and increases the client's self-care contribution, with cost benefits for the psychotherapy provider and the client.
Dissemination: in addition to the final Kela report, a written description of the model will be produced and national training on the combination of winter swimming and psychotherapy will be provided for psychotherapists, and possibly other health professionals working in the field of mental well-being and prevention of mental health problems.
Principal Investigator
Other persons related to this project (JYU)
Primary responsible unit
Follow-up groups
Profiling area: Behaviour change, health, and well-being across the lifespan (University of Jyväskylä JYU) BC-Well; School of Wellbeing (University of Jyväskylä JYU) JYU.Well
