Assignment: Applying current literature in clinical practice
The article I selected is titled “Group Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression: A Formal Evaluation”. Participants in this group were adults between 18 and 59 years old who have been diagnosed with depressive disorder. They were then referred for a CBT program at a local mental health center. The participants were chosen based on their past responses to individual psychotherapy and self-reports about current symptoms.
They met at the same mental health center once a week, for one hour each. This was over an 8-week period. The focus of each session varied slightly, but they all focused on sharing thoughts and stories with one another. They also did cognitive re-framing exercises to target certain topics and life events. There were homework assignments that could be completed between sessions and after the end.
Participants completed 8-week assessments about their severity of symptoms. This indicated statistically significant improvement compared with baseline scores prior to starting treatment.