Therapy-informed apps: how CBT and ACT work in practice
CareOps editorial team · · Updated · 4 min read
Mental wellness information and service guidance published by CareOps.
About the CareOps editorial team
The CareOps editorial team publishes these guides. Sources are linked at the end of each article; examples are illustrative, not customer stories. Product descriptions refer to CareOps Maeumi. Publication and revision dates appear above.
Read our full editorial standards →When you search for psychotherapy apps, you often come across names like CBT, ACT, and behavioral activation. More important than an unfamiliar name is what you actually do with it in the app.
At a glance
- Therapy-informed apps turn well-researched approaches such as CBT and ACT into conversations, notes, and everyday practice.
- CareOps Maeumi's conversations draw on approaches including CBT, ACT, behavioral activation, and motivational interviewing, and continue in the same direction across sessions.
- If you need a diagnosis or medication, you can use the app alongside clinical care.
What do CBT and ACT mean in an app?
CBT explores connections between thoughts, feelings, and actions. In an app, you might record a specific situation, consider another explanation, or plan a small experiment. The aim is to examine an interpretation, not force yourself to feel positive.
Practices drawn from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) help you notice an experience and look at actions that move toward what matters to you, rather than only trying to get rid of uncomfortable thoughts or feelings. In Maeumi, this takes the form of choosing what you value and deciding on a small action in that direction. The six core processes are covered in What is acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)?.
Approaches supported by research
NIMH describes psychotherapy as a range of approaches, with methods chosen to fit an individual's needs. Among them, cognitive behavioral therapy has been found effective in many studies of depression and anxiety. The research is summarized in our CBT guide.
Following a 2019 review of 66 randomized trials, an updated 2024 meta-analysis of 176 trials found small average improvements in depression and generalized anxiety symptoms compared with control groups. These combined results concern different apps and participants; they are not an estimate of CareOps Maeumi’s individual effects. Check the participants, features and duration behind an app’s evidence.
What can you do with Maeumi?
With CareOps Maeumi, you can share your concerns by voice or text, look back on previous sessions, and work through exercises such as thought records and behavioral experiments within the conversation. Start from a specific moment, such as “I want to sort out which thoughts and actions followed when I felt anxious.”
Based on your self-assessments and initial conversation, you find an approach that fits and keep working in that direction across sessions. Check the app introduction and in-app guidance for currently available courses and prices.
Three things to check before choosing an app
- The kind of support: Does the app offer AI conversation, self-assessments, written reflection, or access to a person? Check which option you are choosing.
- What you actually do: Look for examples of the conversations and exercises, as well as the names of the approaches behind them.
- Privacy and cost: Check who processes your information, how deletion works, what is free, and how payment or cancellation works.
If you need diagnosis, medication, or clinical treatment, seek professional care. Our AI counseling app checklist has more questions to help you compare services.
Look at the questions and choices, not just technique names
For example, Maeumi’s MI practice begins with a behavior you are considering changing. It explores reasons to change and reasons to hesitate, then possible support and an action—or reflection alone. The MI card guide shows the real component with fictional answers.
If you choose an action, the activity-record guide shows how to distinguish what you tried from what remains difficult. Look for the ability to correct an interpretation, decline a choice, and discuss real outcomes in a later conversation.
Frequently asked questions
- Is CareOps a therapy-informed app?
- Yes. CareOps Maeumi's conversations are informed by well-researched approaches including CBT, ACT, behavioral activation, and motivational interviewing. You can keep working on concerns such as low mood, anxiety, and low energy from session to session.
- What do you do in a CBT-based app?
- You practice exercises such as thought records—writing down the thoughts that come up in a specific moment and looking at other interpretations—and behavioral experiments, where you try a small action and reflect on it. With Maeumi, you work through them step by step within the conversation.
- Is evidence for a counseling approach the same as evidence for an app?
- Research on an approach, reviews combining different apps, and studies of one specific app answer different questions. The averages in the review described here do not directly evaluate CareOps Maeumi. Check the scope of the evidence alongside the actual activities and terms of use.
Sources
- CareOps Maeumi · Features and pricing
- NIMH · Psychotherapies
- NIMH · Technology and the Future of Mental Health Treatment
- Linardon et al. (2019), The efficacy of app-supported smartphone interventions for mental health problems: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, World Psychiatry
- Linardon et al. (2024), Mental health smartphone apps: a meta-analysis of 176 randomized controlled trials, World Psychiatry 23(1), 139–149
This guide shares mental wellness information. If you are in immediate danger, contact emergency services where you are. Support and contact information.