Treatment for Chronic Depression: Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) [Paperback]

James P. McCullough Jr. PhD (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1572309652 | ISBN-13: 978-1572309654 | Publication Date: August 27, 2003 | Edition: 1

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. Presenting clear, step-by-step guidelines for implementing CBASP--along with compelling empirical evidence that supports its efficacy--the book is filled with illustrative case material that brings challenging clinical situations to life. Also covered are ways to measure treatment outcomes and recommended procedures for training and supervision.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Chronic depressions are often complex and not very responsive to standard approaches in cognitive and behavior therapy. The approach developed by Dr. James McCullough overcomes common barriers to effective psychotherapy by helping the chronically depressed patient become more specific and focused on achieving goals and improving interpersonal relationships. CBASP is an important and highly useful addition to our treatment regimens." --Michael E. Thase, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic

"CBASP--a distillation of 25 years of clinical and research work--is a practical, teachable, and now empirically tested time-limited psychotherapy for chronic depression. This volume will be a standard for training social workers, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, and counselors in how to treat this most disabling and difficult condition. Case vignettes bring the treatment principles to life, illustrating how to motivate patients, use the therapist-patient relationship, and evaluate how well patients are acquiring needed perceptual, behavioral, and cognitive skills. This is the first clearly articulated therapy specifically designed and tested with chronically depressed patients. A 'must read.'" --A. John Rush, MD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX

"McCullough has developed a unique and synthetic approach specifically geared to chronic depressions, distilled from years of research and practice with this challenging population. The approach brings together key aspects of interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral approaches within a structured short-term format that focuses on the functional implications of the depressed individual's behavior. As McCullough describes, the approach recently received strong empirical support in a large multi-site clinical trial. Rich in clinical detail and concrete examples, this volume will be useful for both experienced psychotherapists and trainees from all mental health disciplines who work with persons suffering from chronic depression." --Daniel N. Klein, PhD Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training State University of New York at Stony Brook

"James McCullough has devoted his career to treating chronic depression, a challenging syndrome that often drives patients and their therapists to despair. His CBASP approach, a practical amalgam of behavioral, cognitive, interpersonal and psychodynamic interventions, helps patients to master the social functioning they find so difficult. And it works! A major study has found CBASP to have efficacy equal to medication, and CBASP plus medication to work better than either alone. Clinicians who face the prevalent problem of chronic depression should read this impressive book" --John C. Markowitz, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College; Author of Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Dysthymic Disorder

"[A] very exciting book....Complicated problems cannot readily be resolved by simple solutions, and our currently available interventions, which are theoretically pure, may not have the conceptual and procedural breadth to provide what chronically depressed patients need. McCullough's approach does. It focuses on the depressed patient's problems in living and, while acknowledging the influence of biological factors, offers a creative integration of the contributions to our understanding of human behavior made by such seemingly diverse individuals as Sullivan, Piaget, and Skinner....McCullough has given us a clinically sound and empirically grounded approach to the treatment of chronic depression." --From the Foreword by Marvin R. Goldfried, PhD, State University of New York at Stony Brook

From the Back Cover

"CBASP--a distillation of 25 years of clinical and research work--is a practical, teachable, and now empirically tested time-limited psychotherapy for chronic depression. This volume will be a standard for training social workers, nurses, psychologists, psychiatrists, and counselors in how to treat this most disabling and difficult condition. Case vignettes bring the treatment principles to life, illustrating how to motivate patients, use the therapist-patient relationship, and evaluate how well patients are acquiring needed perceptual, behavioral, and cognitive skills. This is the first clearly articulated therapy specifically designed and tested with chronically depressed patients. A 'must read.'" A. John Rush, MD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 326 pages
• Publisher: The Guilford Press; 1 edition (August 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572309652
• ISBN-13: 978-1572309654
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #931,933 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Patient's Look at a Therapist's Manual, October 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Treatment for Chronic Depression: Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) (Hardcover)

This is one of the few books about depression treatment that is very specifically about chronic depression. Chronic depression here includes minor depression alone, major depression that never ends, and a variety of combinations of major and minor depression that all fall into the chronic category. Functional (or dysfunctional) similarities between early and late onset types are illustrated. McCullough explains the unique pathology of this version of depression and explains why classic cognitive therapy does not work on it all that well. He lays out an interesting theory of just where cognitive development goes awry in patients like us that to me feels organically true. This developmental screw-up can lead to a lifetime of unconscious behavioral and interpersonal crap that does not correct itself spontaneously, ever.

Most of the book is a manual for therapists in this strictly yet humanely thought out program that has elements of all the therapy types known to be helpful in depression. CBASP, pronounced "SEE-basp", should be more available than it is right now. The author is clearly experienced and kind and patient and wise. Maybe if more of us patients wave this book around we can get more therapists to see that chronic depression is quite a different beast than intermittent depression, that it is qualitatively different for treatment purposes, and that it apparently is curable after all.

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important new approach to treating depression., March 3, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Treatment for Chronic Depression: Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) (Hardcover)

Treatment for Chronic Depression covers the cognitive behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy, a research-based approach designed to help patients change and develop problem-solving and life skills. Chapters advocate this treatment, citing statistics which show it superior to medicine-based treatments and including case histories which bring clinical experiences alive. An important inspection of a new concept in treating depression.

11 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but pointless, July 5, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Treatment for Chronic Depression: Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) (Paperback)

Until we have a health care system that pays for such treatment, it will only be available to the rich. Given that most of us struggling with chronic depression have spotty work histories and financial problems, it is extremely unlikely that those who most need this kind of therapy will get it. I've had a lifetime of self-rationing medical care, because of the lack of parity for mental health services. Therapists and psychiatrists need to stop writing books and start working toward the political change that would make treatment available to those with chronic depression. Otherwise, your theories are worthless except for a small handful of well-off individuals.