For people with depression, negative thoughts are a daily, hourly, or even constant occurrence. Cognitive therapy depression is based on the idea that these negative thoughts and negative or dysfunctional patterns of thinking perpetuate depression, and learning to replace negative thoughts with healthy ones will improve mood and other depression symptoms. It has proven effective in dozens of clinical trials, and it is common for psychotherapy for depression to include at least some elements of cognitive therapy.
During cognitive therapy, a therapist will help the patient understand and accept that some of his or her negative thoughts are an unrealistic or exaggerated version of reality. The patient will then work with the therapist to identify automatic negative thoughts and evaluate whether they are based in distorted thinking. The goal is to learn to identify and reframe these automatic negative thoughts in a more realistic light. Cognitive therapy often requires “homework,” where the patient is expected to apply the tools learned in a session to specific challenges they are having in life.
Cognitive therapy tends to work relatively quickly, with patients typically showing significant improvement in symptoms after 8 to 12 sessions and around 16 sessions considered a full course of treatment. Studies have shown that it works as well as antidepressants as a treatment for mild to moderate depression and to prevent relapse.
