CBT. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Hi All,

I have a question?
What is the likely techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy to be used with 38-year married woman of depression to make her involved in her life. And to increase meaning to her existince.?

The cognitive therapy that I am most acquainted with deals with more specific situations. But, if I had to guess I would say the following:

I would start by patting myself on the back for every bit of effort I make toward anything positive. That is getting out of bed, taking a shower, eating, attempting to carry out any responsibility, patting oneself on the back. Depressives often look to others and to institutions to give them praise. Praise that often never comes. We need to give ourselves praise.

I would look to see if I was trying to be exceptional or perfect. We often have such high expectations that few people could ever reach them.

I would look at how I attempt to do things. Do I do one task and finish it before moving on to another? Or do I try to be a superwoman by multitasking with a number of jobs at once? If I do, am I trying to impress someone or prove something? We can get over depression by breaking jobs into many tiny tasks. Then finishing a task. Of course we pat ourseles on the back each time we make effort.

I would look at my life to determine what I am trying to do. I would look for places where I am trying to accomplish something that is impossible. That is am I trying to change or control someone else? We have no control over other people. We can only hope to control ourselves--if we are lucky.

I would also force myself to do some tasks even though I do not feel like it. If you have kids, get out of bed and help them get off to school. If you are supposed to cook for a family, get out of bed and cook some sort of meal. It does not have to be perfect.

These are just a few ideas. They take a while to learn. Most people learn them over a period of months with a group of people helping them. They do not sound like they would work, but they worked wonders for me. Research shows them to be as effective as drugs, but the results last. Generally, when one stops taking antidepresants, the depression immediatly returns, sometimes worse then before.

Good Luck,
Jim S