Snapping Out of It: How a Wearable for Self-Tracking Assisted Psychotherapy Bridges the Gap Between Thoughts and the World

This case study explores how a refugee diagnosed with complex PTSD integrates a wearable self-tracking instrument, the One Button Tracker, for personalized self-tracking in psychotherapy. Unlike traditional mHealth methods (such as mobile apps), which typically employ predefined parameters for tracking, our instrument facilitates focus on the patient's subjective experiences of a phenomenon that they select during treatment. In this case, the patient chose to track a grounding intervention and her experience of anger. Our findings illuminate the multifaceted relationship that evolved between the patient and the instrument, underscoring its significance in supporting her therapeutic process. The patient consistently engaged with the instrument, highlighting its potential to build bridges between daily life and psychotherapy. This study underscores the relevance of integrating self-tracking instruments into psychotherapy to assist the therapy as they serve not only as valuable sources of data collection but also as tangible psychotherapeutic tools embedded in patients’ everyday life.