Emeritus Professor, Clinical Psychology, Universitat Jaume I (Jaume I University), Spain;
Founder and Former Director, Psychology and Technology Laboratory, Universitat Jaume I

Biography:

Cristina Botella Ph.D. is Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology at Universitat Jaume I (UJI). At UJI, she has been Chairman of the Psychology Department, founder and Director of the Psychology Assistance Service; Director of the Psychology Doctorate program, Director of the Master in General Health Psychology. She was founder and former Director of the Psychology and Technology Laboratory at UJI, pioneer worldwide in developing and testing applications based on ICT for the treatment of different psychological problems. She has been funded by the European Framework Programs V, VI and VII; Horizon 2020, in Spain, by the National Research Plan. She was President-elect of the Association of CyberPsychology, Training & Rehabilitation; Member of the Steering Board of The International Society for Research on Internet Interventions and member of the Spanish National Commission of Clinical Psychology. Currently, she is a Full Member of the Spanish Academy of Psychology, forms part of the Editorial Board of more than 20 scientific journals and serves as a referee for more than 40 international scientific organizations. She has received several national and international professional awards. She has shown that the use of virtual reality in therapy is no more impairing than other therapeutic approaches (Fernandez-Alvarez et al., 2018. Her most recent research on the Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression, she discovered the guided iCBT is more effectiveness than unguided iCBT, especially on individuals with moderate to severe depression (Karyotaki et al., 2021). Moreover, Dr. Botella identified some key elements for positive psychological interventions development in the internet, including fostering motivation and commitment, variety and doses, and the customization of interventions (Baños et al., 2016).