Psychotherapy Essentials to Go: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression(Go-To Guides for Mental Health)

A widely researched protocol for treating major depressive disorder, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps clients feel better and cope more effectively by teaching them essential skills to become their own therapists. This guide explains the basic cognitive model, the therapeutic stance, and some of the most important cognitive and behavioral interventions for depression, equipping clinicians with all the key information they need to begin treatment. Core strategies covered include how to nurture the therapeutic rapport, focusing on the "here and now", goal-setting, and behavioral activation techniques such as activity monitoring, the thought record, and behavioral experiments. An invaluable overview of techniques to challenge clients' negative automatic thoughts and depressive behaviors in order to promote immediate and durable change. Included in this comprehensive guide are a DVD of sample therapy sessions and clinical explication that describe how to implement the protocol, as well as a laminated pocket reminder card. An on-the-go package of practical tools that busy clinicians won't want to be without.

About the Author :
Mark Fefergrad, MD, MEd, is Assistant Professor and the Director of Postgraduate Education in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He is a leader in post-graduate CBT education and has practiced and taught CBT extensively. Ari Zaretsky MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and Psychiatrist-in-Chief at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, has extensive experience in CBT treatment, teaching, and supervision. Robert Maunder, MD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and head of research for Mount Sinai Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry. His primary research interest is the role of interpersonal attachment on health. Paula Ravitz, MD, is Associate Professor, Morgan Firestone Psychotherapy Chair, and Associate Director of the Psychotherapy, Health Humanities, and Education Scholarship Division for the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, where she leads IPT training. She is also the director of the Mt. Sinai Psychotherapy Institute. Her clinical practice, teaching, and research focus on IPT and attachment informed psychotherapy.

Review :
"I enjoyed this series from two different perspectives: The first perspective is as a professor of counseling who occasionally teaches theory. Students using these books will find them readable, thorough, and applicable to the practice of therapy. New therapists will find them useful to consolidate their own use practice, and they will possibly be introduced to new material. . . . For the experienced practitioner who wants to expand into other modalities, these books introduce a new therapeutic approach. And for those who have only had a quick overview of many theories, this series offers another look, and possibly new material to add to what was already studied. . . . I recommend this series and hope that it will be expanded to include other therapeutic approaches." "Psychotherapy Essentials To Go is a truly impressive series of books. Elevating pragmatics over dogma, it is grounded in the wisdom of front-line psychotherapists who adapt the core principles of empirically supported psychotherapies to flexibly address a myriad of clinical issues. No other series of psychotherapy handbooks is as skillfully concise and yet thorough. It will quickly become a standard reference for teaching and enhancing clinical competence." "Mark Fefergrad and Ari Zaretsky have written a concise, clear, and useful guide for those who want to learn the basics of cognitive behavioral therapy for depression. Filled with helpful forms and examples, this book is essential reading for those interested in the fundamentals of this treatment method. I highly recommend it!"