Treatment for Chronic Depression

This volume describes the Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP), a research-based approach designed to motivate chronically depressed patients to change and to help them develop needed problem-solving and relationship skills. Integrating elements of cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal therapy, this approach has been shown to be as effective as medication treatment in a recent 12-site national study with 681 chronically depressed outpatients. Even more significant, a combination of CBASP and pharmacotherapy produced a response rate of 85%--unprecedented for any large-scale randomized clinical trial of its kind--and demonstrated for the first time the superiority of combination treatment to either psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy alone. Filled with detailed case examples, the volume presents clear, step-by-step guidelines for using CBASP. Also discussed are ways to measure treatment outcomes; issues in research, training, and supervision; and managing common crises and problems in treatment.