What Does CBT Treatment for Depression Look Like?
When clients come to therapy for the first time they can be uncertain of what their treatment might look like. One of the common reasons individuals seek out therapy at The Growth & Wellness Therapy Centre is to get support in managing their depression. This article will give you some more understanding of what you might experience throughout the therapeutic process when seeking out support for managing depression with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which is one of the current best practices for treatment of depression.
Assessment and evaluation are the crucial first step for CBT. Detailed assessments are completed with the client (either in session by the therapist for symptom management purposes or with an MD or Psychiatrist for diagnostic purposes) with a baseline assessment of severity identified to help with understanding the level of the disorder and to assist with future tracking of progress by both the therapist and client.
After assessment, the client and clinician will identify an initial problem target list, which will be a comprehensive collection of issues identified by the client. This list should be a mutually agreed upon definition of the problems, with the therapist made fully aware of the context and meaning of each item for the client. Often the problems clients come to therapy to address can be broken down into four systems: cognitions, emotions, behavior and physiological symptoms.
“The cognitive model for depression theorizes that individuals experiencing depression are not affected by events themselves but by their perceptions of said events.”
The next step is for the therapist and client to collaboratively develop a case formulation that integrates the cognitive model of depression. This means that both parties will make sure they’re on the same page regarding an understanding of the problems, will explore where the problems originated, and will discuss which patterns or cycles may be encouraging the problems to persist.
The cognitive model for depression theorizes that individuals experiencing depression are not affected by events themselves but by their perceptions of said events. Negative interpretations of life events and maladaptive thinking patterns can lead to the development of dysfunctional reactions, which can prolong symptoms of depression. Part of the work in therapy will to be to identify when these perceptions are getting in the way for the client, and to strategize how to shift to a balanced perspective (taking in the positive and negative) rather than just focusing on the negative.
Once problems and goals have been collaboratively identified, the focus in therapy shifts to working on symptom reduction using interventions such as activity scheduling, behavioral activation, and distraction strategies (including thought stopping). The course of treatment for symptom reduction will also contain the following components: basic behavioral strategies, early-stage cognitive strategies, behavioral work of monitoring and challenging automatic thoughts, and relapse management. Depending on what works best for you, your treatment may involve the use of all of these strategies or just a few of them - your therapist is there to help personalize your treatment to that which will be most effective for you.
As client and therapist go through the process to work on depression symptom reduction, the therapist will continue to check in around the problem list to see if there are any items to be removed or added to the list, and assessments will continue to be completed by the client to monitor symptom changes. Therapy may take a number of weeks to a number of months when using CBT, so it’s important to check in with your therapist as you go to communicate if you’re finding it helpful or if you want them to shift their approach in some way. While CBT is the current best practice it’s not the only method of treating depression, so if you’d like to explore other options be sure to engage in discussion around that with your therapist.
If you or someone you know would like to explore the ways that Growth & Wellness Therapy Centre can help you on your journey, please contact our intake and administration team to set up a free consultation with one or more of our clinicians. A number of our clinicians, including Vaveena, can support you in managing symptoms of depression in a way that works for you, whether that’s through CBT or other therapeutic interventions.
About the Author
Vaveena Somaskantharajah, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) is an individual and child therapist at The Growth & Wellness Therapy Centre providing support for a variety of issues including anxiety, trauma, stress and burnout, ADHD and more.