Evaluation

• Effectiveness - research support

  Jarrett et al (1999) found that CBT reduced symptoms t the same rate as some antidepressants when treating 108 patients with severe depression over a 10 week trial.

   Hollon et al (1992) found CBT was not as effective compared to an antidepressant drug in 107 patients over a 10 week trial.
• Ethics (patient blame)

  • The client is deemed responsible for their own disorder
  • May not help them because situational factors that cannot be controlled that are contributing to their illness might be ignored
  • Blaming the individual is no good – there may be other factors beyond their control that are to blame so may cause psychological harm.
• Individual Differences ( Effectiveness)

  In the case with clients with fixed rigid and irrational beliefs CBT has been found to be unsuitable It is also less effective for clients who have very high levels of stress due to stressors in their lives that cannot be resolved by therapy (Simons et al, 1995) –
• Empowerment (Effectivness)

  CBT acknowledges that people are determined by the here and now so if that is changed, then they can recover.

  • Gives patients the control and power to play a part in their own recovery and well-being.
  • Other methods are based on deterministic factors that the client has no role in so they suggest that people are destined to be mentally ill – CBT doesn’t do this.
• Ethics - Rational

  • some thoughts are deemed to be irrational to a therapist resulting in the client feeling they must change them they may in fact nit be that irrational . Alloy and Abrahamson 1979 suggest that depressive realists tend to see things for what they are and normal people have a tendency to distort things in a positive way. They found depressed people display the sadder but wiser effect. The ethical issue is that CBT may damage self esteem an example of psychological harm.