Behavioural activation for depression

TLDR

Behavioural activation is a formal therapy for depression that uses activity scheduling to encourage patients to engage in avoided activities and analyses the function of cognitive processes such as rumination. This article aims to describe the theory and rationale of behavioural activation, its evidence base, and how to develop a formulation that guides the strategy. Behavioural activation achieves this by scheduling activities to counter avoidance and by examining cognitive processes, and the article outlines the theoretical framework, evidence, and formulation development. Patients are refocused on their goals and valued directions, and behavioural activation offers advantages over traditional CBT by being easier to train staff in and suitable for both inpatient and outpatient settings.

Abstract

A formal therapy for depression, behavioural activation focuses on activity scheduling to encourage patients to approach activities that they are avoiding and on analysing the function of cognitive processes (e.g. rumination) that serve as a form of avoidance. Patients are thus refocused on their goals and valued directions in life. The main advantage of behavioural activation over traditional cognitive–behavioural therapy for depression is that it may be easier to train staff in it and it can be used in both in-patient and out-patient settings. This article describes the theory and rationale of behavioural activation, its evidence base and how to develop a formulation that guides the strategy.