The Caritas Fachambulanz for young addicts, who designed this app, works in the therapeutic setting predominantly with a behavioral therapeutic orientation. In short, this means coming to a concrete problem solving strategy as soon as possible through a viable problem analysis. In doing so, emphasis is placed on concrete planning of changes and on concrete activities of the clients. This often happens with the help of worksheets such as Weekly plans and so-called homework such. B. Self-analysis (mood record) in certain situations. This can sometimes be an obstacle to a therapy process, since of course not every opportunity worksheets are taken.
However, the smartphone is almost always included and here the app can take on the role of a "help assistant" who does not need much effort. Integrating a familiar device into therapy may mean that therapy and work assignments are more likely to be accepted and that users are learning to help themselves to some degree in mental health crises. This applies both to the time during therapy and afterwards. The CariApp can thus increase the efficiency of a therapy and support its effectiveness due to the high acceptance of apps and their almost constant availability.