A new professional education course at Karolinska Institutet is planned to start in autumn 2026. The focus of the course is Training for Awareness Resilience and Action (TARA) – an integrative method that provides professionals with new perspectives and practical tools for working teenagers and young adults with depression.
The proportion of young people experiencing depression has increased significantly in Sweden as well as globally, especially after COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is a group that needs effective treatment approaches. Methods commonly offered today – medication, short-term individual therapy or psychoeducation – have limited effects for many,” says Eva Henje , contributing lecturer, professor at Umeå University and senior consultant in child and adolescent psychiatry.
Self-regulation and inner direction
The course focuses on the principles of TARA, which are based on contemplative and developmental neuroscience, psychological research, trauma informed practices and embodied practices.
The TARA protocol is delivered in groups of young people over 12 weeks in person or on-line and follows a stepwise process. The initial focus is on creating a sense of safety and learning techniques to regulate the nervous system, such as breathing exercises, yoga-based movements and brief guided meditations. This is followed by practices of interoceptive awareness and embodiment. Next is to understand what is driving the symptoms of depression and how to gain agency to do something about it and engage in creating a world worth living for.
“A key element is helping participants understand what factors that actually impacts their wellbeing negatively and how they can act in ways to support change. Rather than being stuck in ones problems and suffering, we try to help develop skills in self-regulation and also in finding meaning, connection and agency,” says Eva Henje.
Results equal to or better than standard treatment
The course is called ” TARA – a neuroscience-based group intervention for young people with anxiety and depression (Level 1) “. It awards 7.5 credits and is delivered in Swedish. It is aimed at professionals in healthcare, education and other settings where they meet teenagers and young adults with mental health problems. The focus is on the scientific foundations and core principles of the method. Participants gain both a new theoretical perspective and practical tools that can be applied directly in clinical or educational settings.
“Preliminary results from a large randomised controlled trial (RCT) show that TARA produces outcomes equal to or better than standard treatment for teenagers and young adults with depression. In the course, participants gain a solid neuroscience-based, contextual and clinical foundation for understanding depression in young people, and how the principles of TARA can be applied in a structured way,” says Gabriele Biguet , course director and assistant professor at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet.
A second level course is planned for autumn 2027, with a focus on advanced practical training in leading TARA groups.
