Contemporary Cognitive Behavioral and Psychodynamic Treatments for Depression 

Dave Roth, Ph.D. and Don Ross, M.D. 

October 21, 2019 

Columbia, MD or Online Via Zoom Only have space for online attendees at this time

Workshop 9:00am- 12:15pm

Psychotherapeutic approaches for the treatment of depressive disorders are quite widespread.   This workshop will discuss, compare, and contrast two of the leading and most frequently used therapeutic models: psychodynamic and cognitive therapy.  Cognitive therapy for depression has evolved considerably since Aaron Beck, M.D. and colleagues wrote their seminal piece: “Cognitive Therapy of Depression” (1979).   We will identify contemporary strategies that cognitive behaviorally oriented therapists utilize to identify depressogenic ideation and beliefs.  We will also identify key interventions to re-activate depressed clients and enable them to evaluate, correct, and replace distortions of thinking.

Depression can be viewed productively from a psychodynamic lens as well.  Here, early conflicts and compromise formations in childhood result in deformations of character structure that increase the patient's vulnerability to loss as an adult.  In predisposed individuals, loss now challenges underlying fantasies and illusions in ways that create hopelessness and despair.  Understanding these internal configurations allows the psychotherapist powerful leverage to help the patient make necessary psychological changes.  This can be particularly helpful in "treatment-resistant" cases. In this workshop, we will outline and illustrate the power of both CBT and psychodynamic psychotherapy in understanding and treating depression, highlight their commonalities and differences, and present a framework within which to work with both models in an integrative manner in certain clinical situations. 

After attending this workshop, attendees will be able to

  • List the core tenets of cognitive therapy.
  • Utilize behavioral activation and belief modification skills
  •  Compare and contrast the psychodynamic with the cognitive-behavioral understanding of depression and list at least 3 differences with regards to psychotherapeutic interventions in a typical clinical situation.
  • Explain common psychodynamically-relevant childhood antecedents to clinical depression in the face of loss of a treasured relationship as an adult.
  • Discuss depression from three different psychodynamic frames: structural, object-relational, and self-psychological.
  • Outline and utilize a psychotherapeutic strategy that integrates key psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral paradigms in treating an adult patient with treatment-resistant depression
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