Behavioural activation
Behavioural activation is a formal therapy for depression which focuses on activity scheduling to encourage patients to approach activities that they are avoiding and on analysing the function of cognitive processes (e.g. rumination) that serve as a form of avoidance.
It is much more simple than CBT and involves much less cognitive therapy. An advantage therefore over traditional cognitive therapy for depression is that it is easier to train staff in its use.
Introduced by Martell in 2001, it has two primary focuses: the use of avoided activities as a guide for activity scheduling and functional analysis of cognitive processes that involve avoidance.
Behavioural activation theory holds that when people become depressed, many of their activities function as avoidance and escape from aversive thoughts, feelings or external situations. Depression therefore occurs when a person develops a narrow repertoire of passive behaviour and efficiently avoids aversive stimuli. As a consequence, someone with depression engages less frequently in pleasant or satisfying activities and obtains less positive reinforcement than someone without depression. To address this the patient is encouraged to identify activities and problems that they avoid and to establish valued directions to be followed. These are set out on planned timetables (activity schedules).
In behavioural activation, therapists tend not to become engaged in the content of the patients thinking. Instead they use functional analysis to focus on the context and process of the individuals response. The most common cognitive responses are rumination, fusion and self-attack.
Like standard CBT, a typical behavioural activation session has a structured agenda to review the homework and the progress towards the goals, to discuss feedback on the previous session and to focus on one or two specific issues. The number of sessions to treat depression would be between 12 and 24.
It is much more simple than CBT and involves much less cognitive therapy. An advantage therefore over traditional cognitive therapy for depression is that it is easier to train staff in its use.
Introduced by Martell in 2001, it has two primary focuses: the use of avoided activities as a guide for activity scheduling and functional analysis of cognitive processes that involve avoidance.
Behavioural activation theory holds that when people become depressed, many of their activities function as avoidance and escape from aversive thoughts, feelings or external situations. Depression therefore occurs when a person develops a narrow repertoire of passive behaviour and efficiently avoids aversive stimuli. As a consequence, someone with depression engages less frequently in pleasant or satisfying activities and obtains less positive reinforcement than someone without depression. To address this the patient is encouraged to identify activities and problems that they avoid and to establish valued directions to be followed. These are set out on planned timetables (activity schedules).
In behavioural activation, therapists tend not to become engaged in the content of the patients thinking. Instead they use functional analysis to focus on the context and process of the individuals response. The most common cognitive responses are rumination, fusion and self-attack.
Like standard CBT, a typical behavioural activation session has a structured agenda to review the homework and the progress towards the goals, to discuss feedback on the previous session and to focus on one or two specific issues. The number of sessions to treat depression would be between 12 and 24.
