Evaluation

• IT IS EFFECTIVE

  March et al. (2007) compared CBT, antidepressants and a combination of the two for treating depression in 327 teenagers with a main diagnosis of depression. After 36 weeks: 81% of the CBT group were significantly improved 81% of the antidepressants group were significantly improved 86% of the CBT + antidepressants group were significantly improved. SUPPORT – Due its effectiveness, there is good cause for making CBT the first choice of treatment in public health care systems like the NHS.
• CBT MAY NOT WORK FOR MOST CASES

  For example, in severe cases where patients are unable to motivate themselves (time and commitment) to engage with the cognitive work of CBT – They may not be able to pay attention to what is happening in a session. In these cases, a better alternative might be to use antidepressant medication and commence CBT when they are more alert and motivated. Peter (2005) suggested that any form of ‘talking therapy’ is not suitable for clients with learning disabilities.
• LIMITATION – This is a limitation because although it is possible to work around this by using medication – it means that CBT can not be used at the sole treatment for all cases of depression.
• Although the conventional wisdom has been that CBT is unsuitable for very depressed people and for clients with learning disabilities, there is not some more recent evidence that challenges this. Lewis and Lewis (2016) concluded that CBT was as effective as antidepressants drugs and behavioural therapies for serve depression. Another review by John Taylor (2008) concluded that, when used appropriately, CBT is effective for people with learning disabilities. STRENGTH – This means that CBT may be suitable for a wider range of people.
• For example, Shehzad Al et al (2017) assessed depression in 439 clients every month for 12 months following a course of CBT. 42% of the clients relapsed into depression within six month of ending treatment and 53% relapsed within a year. LIMITATION – This means that CBT may need to be repeated periodically
• limitation of CBT for treatment of depression it its high relapse rates. Although CBT is quite effective in tackling the symptoms of depression, there are some concerns over how long the benefits last. Some recent studies shows that long-term outcomes are not as good as has been assumed.
• Rozenweig (1936) suggested that the differences between different methods of psychotherapy, such as between CBT and systematic desensitisation might actually be quite small.All psychotherapy shares one essential ingredient – the therapist-patient relationship. It may actually be the quality of this relationship that determines success rather than any particular technique that is used