• Robert D Friedberg and Hasan Bayar.
• Dr. Friedberg is with the Center for the Study and Treatment of Anxious Youth, Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, California (e-mail: rfriedberg@paloaltou.edu ). Dr. Bayar is with the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Gaziantep University School of Medicine, Gaziantep, Turkey.
• Psychiatr Serv. 2017 Jun 1; 68 (6): 621-623.

AbstractThe emergence of evidence-based psychological treatments (EVPTs) is a scientific success story, but unfortunately the application of these empirically supported procedures has been slow to gain ground in treatment-as-usual settings. This Open Forum commentary argues that direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketing, which has worked well in communicating the advantages of various medicines, should perhaps be considered for use in social marketing of EVPTs. DTC marketing of pharmaceuticals is a long-standing advertising strategy in the United States. In fact, DTC marketing of psychotropic medicines is quite a success story. The authors recommend various strategies for using marketing science to devise DTC advertising of EVPTs, discuss previous research on DTC campaigns, and describe initiatives launched in the United Kingdom and Europe to promote EVPTs. Suggestions for evaluating and regulating DTC marketing of EVPTs are included. Finally, the potential for DTC marketing of EVPTs to increase mental health literacy and reduce health disparities is explored.

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