Evaluation:

Lot of evidence to support the effectiveness of CBT for depression. March et al. compared the effects of CBT with antidepressants and a combination of the two in 327 adolescents with a main diagnosis of depression. After 36 weeks 81% of the CBT group, 81% of the antidepressants group and 86% of the combination group were significantly improved. This suggests there is a good case for making CBT the first choice of treatment to public health care systems.
In some cases depression can be so severe that patients cannot motivate themselves to engage with the hard cognitive work of CBT. They may not even be able to pay attention to what is happening in a session. Where this is the case it is possible to treat patients with antidepressant medication and commerce CBT when they are more alert and motivated. Although it is possible to work around this by using medication, this is a limitation of CBT because it means CBT cannot be used as the sole treatment for all cases of depression
Rosenweig suggested that the difference between CBT and systematic desensitisation might actually be quite small. All psychotherapies share one essential ingredient - the therapist-patient relationship. It may be the quality of this relationship that determines success rather than any particular technique
CBT focuses on the present and future however some patients want to talk about past experiences which CBT doesn't cover
There is a risk that becuase of its emphasis of what goes on in the mind, CBT maay minimise the importance of the circumstances in which a patient is living. e.g. a patient living in poverty or suffering abuse needs to change their environment as well as what is happening in their mind. CBT techniques used inappropiately can demotivate people to change their situation

	Created by Caitlyn Grayston over 7 years ago

AS level Psychology (Psychopathology) Note on Cognitive Approach to Treating Depression, created by Caitlyn Grayston on 20/05/2017.

Cognitive Approach to Treating Depression