This document was printed from the website of the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), which you can access at http://www.cebc4cw.org/
This document was printed from the website of the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), which you can access at http://www.cebc4cw.org/
Child Welfare Outcomes: Child/family well-being
Type of Maltreatment: Emotional abuse, Exposure to domestic violence, Physical abuse, Physical neglect, and Sexual abuse
Target Population: Chronically depressed adults.
Brief Description:(The information in this program outline is provided by the program representative and edited by the CEBC staff.)
The Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP) has been rated by the CEBC in the area of Depression Treatment (Adult). CBASP has been developed solely for the treatment of the chronic depressive adults. Most patients present with maltreatment developmental histories that thwart normal cognitive-emotive maturational growth in the social-interpersonal domain. Hence, patients begin treatment functioning in a primitive (preoperational) manner meaning their cognitive-emotional patterns are diffuse, prelogical, ego-centric, global, and they talk to therapists in a monologic manner. Chronic depression is essentially a chronic mood disorder and does not fit the typical Beckian description of episodic major depression as a “thinking disorder.” The disorder is driven by an interpersonal fear (mood) and is characterized by generalized interpersonal avoidance behavior stemming from earlier developmental maltreatment. At the outset of psychotherapy, the patient is interpersonally detached and withdrawn and is perceptually disconnected from the actual consequences of their own behavior. The general fiction they live out is “it doesn’t matter what I do, nothing will change.” Three techniques are administered to demonstrate to patients that the way they behave with others has discernible interpersonal consequences (Situational Analysis); to help patients discriminate the psychotherapist from toxic Significant Others who have hurt them (Interpersonal Discrimination Exercise); and to modify in-session maladaptive behavior that precludes the therapist from administering treatment (Contingent Personal Responsivity). The CBASP therapist role is interpersonally active and administered in a disciplined personal involved manner.
Contact name: James P. McCullough, Jr., PhD
Affiliation/Agency: Distinguished Professor of Psychology & Psychiatry, Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University
Email: jmccull@vcu.edu
Phone: 804-740-7646
Fax: 804-740-0305
Website: http://www.cbasp.org
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