Psychological Interventions & Therapies of Depression | AQA GCSE Psychology Revision Notes 2019

The use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to treat depression

Psychological treatments tend to take a cognitive approach i.e. working on the patient’s irrational thinking and cognitive distortions
Psychological treatments do not use drugs or any invasive methods to treat disorders
Psychological treatments revolve around talking therapy and targeted tasks/exercises that the patient undergoes with a therapist to guide them or on their own as ‘homework’
Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is the most commonly used psychological treatment for depression
CBT works on cognitions, for example
- irrational thoughts and behaviours
- isolating oneself from others
CBT includes the following techniques and procedures in (and outside of) therapy sessions (not all of these techniques will be used per patient):
- Cognitive restructuring/reframing: this involves turning negative thoughts into positive thoughts
- Guided discovery: this involves challenging negative thoughts and irrational beliefs
- Keeping a journal: this involves the recording of thoughts, feelings and actions between sessions
- Activity scheduling and behaviour activation: this involves acting on decisions instead of putting them off
- Relaxation and stress reduction techniques: this involves exercises such as muscle relaxation, deep breathing, visualisation
- Breaking down overwhelming tasks into smaller, more manageable steps
- Working on the present rather than dwelling on the past

The CBT therapist aims to get their client to the point where they can be independent and use strategies practised throughout the CBT treatment to help themselves
A course of CBT generally takes between 5-20 sessions with the client and therapist meeting every week or fortnight with each session lasting between 30-60 minutes

CBT changes thoughts, feelings and behaviours holistically

CBT is holistic as it addresses and deals with the whole person (thoughts, behaviour, lifestyle) rather than focusing on one, simplistic explanation
CBT can be highly effective in the long term for treating depression and other disorders such as anxiety and OCD (Foroushani et al. 2011)

Focusing only on the present may not be appropriate for all people; some may need to revisit what has happened in the past to deal with unresolved trauma
CBT is expensive and time-consuming which means that it will not be prescribed to everyone who needs it

Here is an example of a question you might be asked on this topic - for AO1.

AO1: You need to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key concepts, ideas, theories and research.

Question: Which two of the following are a feature of cognitive behavioural therapy?

Select two options only. [2]

Model answer:

The correct answers are:
- b) Being set ‘homework’ by the therapist
- e) Challenging negative thoughts