Cognitive approach to treating depression Flashcards
What is Beck’s CT (Cognitive Therapy)?
Aims to identify the patients irrational thoughts and challenging them as irrational
-Guided by the negative triad
-ppt is made to test the reality of their beliefs
-e.g, make ppts write down every time they are complimented. When they next have irrational thoughts that no one likes them the therapist will tell them to look back at these notes.
What does Ellis’ REBT stand for?
Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy
What is Ellis’ REBT?
It aims to identify patients’ thoughts and identify them as irrational
-using logical (does this belief REALLY make sense?) OR empirical (where is the proof that this way of thinking is correct?) argument
Ellis’ ABC model was extended to ABCDEF
D= Disputing irrational thoughts & beliefs
E= Effects of disputing
F= The new Feelings produced
In Ellis’ REBT, what 3 things are done other than ABCDEF model (challenging irrational beliefs)?
Homework:
In between sessions clients are told to do things that they are scared to, like ask someone out on a date
Behavioural activation:
Ppts are encouraged to pick up hobbies again
Unconditional positive regard:
Regardless of what the ppt does, give them respect and appreciation
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Supporting research for Ellis’ REBT
Ellis claimed a 90% success rate in ppts using his REBT
-it took on average 27 days to complete
Other researchers have supported this, finding that using REBT is more effective than using no treatment
However, Ellis aknowledged that this CBT would not work as effectively on participants who did not believe in its effectiveness
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Support for behavioural activation
Babyak studies 156 adult volunteers who had depression
-assigned each one on a 4 month course of either exercise, drug therapy or a combination of the two
-clients in ALL 3 conditions showed significant improvement
Therefore, a change in behaviour can lead to an improvement in treating depression. This therefore supports the behavioural activation used in REBT.
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Not appropriate for severe cases
REBT requires ppts attending many sessions.
A main behavioural feature of depression is not being able to stick to a routine and having very little motivation for normal activities
-getting out of bed is hard for them, let alone attending 27 sessions
-therefore people who are severely depressed may struggle to attend the sessions, making it a less effective treatment for them
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Alternative treatment
Drug therapy, including antidepressants such as SSRI
-Drug therapies require much less energy for the client, who may struggle to attend therapy (especially 27 sessions)
Research has shown that CBT was most effective when combined with drug therapy
