Using CBT with Depression

In Australia, one in five persons (20 percent) aged 16 to 85 will experience a mental illness in any given year, with nearly half of Australians (45 percent) experiencing a mental illness in their lifetime. The most common ones are depressive, anxiety, and substance use disorders, often in combination with one another. As for depression itself, one in seven Australians will experience it in their lifetime, giving depression the third highest burden of all diseases; this is true both in Australia and globally. An estimated 65 percent of depressed people do not access any treatment for their depression and it is the number one cause of non-fatal disability in Australia (at 24 percent) (Black Dog Institute, 2012). Given its prevalence both in Australia and globally, you are unlikely to be a therapist/helper for very long before a client with this presenting issue crosses your threshold. Will you know how to treat it? You may have special competence in any modality from narrative to equine to transpersonal therapy, but you are still recommended on the basis of available evidence to use the “gold standard” treatment for depression: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, or CBT. How to do so is the subject of this course. Upon successful completion of the course, you will be able to: Summarise the DSM-5 definition of depression; Name at least seven techniques which form an integral part of a CBT approach; Cite at least five meta-studies which have shown the efficacy of CBT treatment for depression; Discuss the main components of CBT which are typically found in treatment programs for depression; Put together plans for CBT sessions for a client diagnosed with depression.