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A.S.T. Consultancy

Depression

 

If five or more of the following symptoms have been present during the last 2 week period and represent a change from previous functioning; at least 1 of the symptoms is either depressed mood or loss of pleasure. Do not include symptoms that are clearly due to a general medical condition, are mood congruent delusions or hallucinations.

 

Symptoms of Depression

 

Treatment

The Cognitive Behavioural therapist will employ a combination of behavioural and cognitive techniques for the treatment of depressed mood.

 

Generally the treatment regimen progresses from assessment to the formulation of the maintaining factors; including cognitive, emotional, physical, motivational and behavioural symptoms unique to the patient.

 

After a satisfactory formulation has been constructed the initial focus of CBT will be on the behavioural interventions; such as activity recording, planning and graded task assignment, which both identify

helpful and unhelpful behaviours (including identification of the level of mood associated with these behaviours) with the intention of increasing those that are helpful and decreasing those that are unhelpful.

 

Once the behavioural component has been implemented to good effect the therapist will introduce cognitive interventions aimed at identifying possible errors in thinking and unhelpful thoughts and beliefs. These may be then challenged through a combination of verbal reattribution, behavioural experimentation and Socratic questioning.

 

Final stages of the therapeutic interventions are aimed at relapse prevention strategies.

 

Therapy may be conducted in either individual or group format, depending on the severity of the problems and the needs of the individual.

a model of depression

Model of Depression, Padesky 1986

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