I am aiming to conduct research comparing different CBT core belief-interventions for depressed clients, but have so far not found as much as I was hoping for, so any advise would be appreciated.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT, Aaron T. Beck) begins with an assessment using diagnostic tests to measure the intensity of the symptoms associated with depression (e.g. BDI). Then a problem list of five or six of the presenting problems are drawn up with the therapist. Clients collaborate with the therapist to decide how they will be at the end of the therapy.
The first stage of the therapy is aimed at bringing depression scores back to the normal range. Using a series of behavioural techniques (breathing, daily activity schedules, pleasure ratings and experiments) to help clients monitor their ability to change their life experience. Usually a minimum of 5 sessions is necessary to achieve depression scores in the normal range.
The second stage of the treatment works at the identification and challenging of negative automatic thoughts. Negative automatic thoughts are plausible, and are generated around specific themes (i.e. “I'm not good enough”, “I'm worthless”, “I'm never going to change” etc.). Clients either use a voice activated dictaphone or write them down to catch them, asking themselves “What was going through my mind just before I started to feel this way?”
These negative thoughts are then analysed against errors in logic which depressed people normally make, and through socratic questioning and guided discovery clients learn how to challenge and rewrite these thoughts in a more balanced way. Five sessions minimum are set apart to learn to identify and challenge negative automatic thoughts. The last five sessions work with deeper core beliefs and schemas which were previously known as the unconscious.
Modifying these deeply held beliefs which were formed in the first fifteen years of life mitigate against relapse. CORE BELIEFS function like absolutes or prejudices in a persons life and identifying these through diagnostic tests target specific areas which are at the root of depressoganic thinking. They have cognitive, affective and behavioural components, and by modifying them (“I'm stupid”, “I'm not good enough”, “I'm a failure” etc.) by using evidence and experience of a new belief, over time, alters the original template at the heart of the way people see themselves, others, and the future and aid relapse prevention
CBT shows the relationship between negative thoughts about oneself which are critical, feelings of depression, sadness, anger, and behaviours which are defeatist and avoidable. Changing negative thoughts by substituting for valid positive ones will aid in changing mood.
Classical CBT works like this. No special variant is needed for modifying core beliefs (e.g. I am not worthy of love) and so forth.
http://www.centreforcbtcounselling.co.uk/depression.php
Sarah and Beatrice:
It is always a joy to read of Dr. Beck's CBT work being so very helpful. I look forward to visiting that website. Attached is one of my favorite articles of his; on p. 972 you'll find his reference to "Biological Correlates of the Cognitive Model," a line of research and discoveries in genetics and brain imagery that demonstrate his cognitive theory in terms of physiology. It may be that in some cases a genetic vulnerability to becoming depressed in the face of adversity is at the core of the patient's automatic negative thinking.
I would probably refer you to Beck's Cogntive Therapy of Depression (1979), Judith Beck's (2011) Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Second Edition: Basics and Beyond, or Nancy Murdock's (2012) Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy: A Case Approach (3rd Edition)
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