4.3.3 Cognitive treatments of depression Flashcards
What is most commonly used psychological treatment used to treat depression?
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT).
What is CBT?
CBT is a cognitive treatment, although it does have behavioural elements within it: As the name suggests.
What are the 2 forms of CBT?
/Beck’s cognitive therapy
/Ellis’s rational emotive behaviour (REBT)
Explain Beck’s cognitive therapy?
CBT assists clients (Beck did not like the word patient as it was felt to take power from the person) to identify their irrational thoughts (from the negative triad). Once have identified their irrational thoughts, CBT helps patients change them. To change the irrational thoughts, the patient challenges these thoughts directly and the therapist can also assist the client in challenging the reality of their irrational thoughts.
What do therapists set patients for Beck’s cognitive therapy?
Client are often set homework to record positive events, which can be used in the sessions to help them challenge their irrational thoughts.
Explain Ellis’s rational emotive behaviour?
The main technique for REBT is to identify and challenge irrational thoughts
Example:
/A client (again, the term patient was felt to take power from the person) talks to their therapist about the fact that everyone hates them
/A REBT would challenge these thoughts and argue with the client, the argument would be a strong argument where they challenge the specific irrational thought
/The therapist intends to break the link between the negative life effects and depression by changing the clients irrational belief
Strengths of cognitive treatments of depression?
CBT and REBT are quicker treatments than other therapies: Treatments usually last for 16 weeks and can be repeated if they are not successful the first time around.
Evidence for the effectiveness of CBT in treating depression.
March et al. (2007) compared CBT to antidepressants and combination therapy when treating 327 depressed adolescents, they found that after 36 weeks, 81% of the CBT group, 81% of the antidepressant group and 86% of the combination group were all significantly improved, showing CBT is as effective as antidepressants and even more so when used in combination with them.
Limitations of cognitive treatments of depression?
CBT has been criticised for blaming the client as the whole focus is on their irrational thoughts.
Some clients with severe depression are unable to motivate themselves with the hard work needed for engagement with CBT.
CBT can be therapist centered, which is an ethical concern as it gives the therapist power and the client can become too dependent on the therapist.
CBT as with all ‘talking therapies’ is not very good for those clients who do not like to take or express themselves or lack the verbal skills to do so.
