Behavioral Activation (BA)

Activity Diary (Hourly Time Intervals)
Worksheets
Activity Diary (No Time Intervals)
Worksheets
Activity Menu
Information handouts
Activity Planning
Worksheets
Activity Selection
Worksheets
Behavioral Activation Activity Diary
Worksheets
Behavioral Activation Activity Planning Diary
Worksheets
CBT Daily Activity Diary With Enjoyment And Mastery Ratings
Worksheets
Mastery And Pleasure Activity Diary
Worksheets
Overcoming Depression: Therapist Guide
Treatments That Work®
Overcoming Depression: Workbook
Treatments That Work®
Task Planning And Achievement Record
Worksheets
Things To Do List
Worksheets
TRAP TRAC
Exercises
Using Behavioral Activation To Overcome Depression
Guides
Values
Exercises
What Keeps Depression Going?
Information handouts
Intervention
- Behavioral activation treatment for depression – revised (BATD-R) manual (Lejuez, Hopko, Acierno, Daughters, Pagoto, 2011) download archived copy
- Behavioral activation treatment for depression (BATD) manual (Lejuez, Hopko & Hopko, 2001) download archived copy
- Get active feel good (behavioral activation) – CBT workbook from CEDAR download archived copy
- Valued Living Questionnaire (Version 2) download archived copy
- If you do something 100 times you will get pretty good at it download archived copy
Self-Help Programmes
Behavioral activation for depression
- Introduction to BA for depression
downloadarchived copy - Monitoring activity and mood
downloadarchived copy - Roadmap: the activation plan
downloadarchived copy - Finding direction: values, flow, and strengths
downloadarchived copy - Avoidance and depression TRAPs
downloadarchived copy - Problem solving
downloadarchived copy - Thinking habits
downloadarchived copy - Next steps
downloadarchived copy
Presentations
- Treating depression with behavior therapy: The implementation of behavioral activation | Christopher Martell, Sona Dimidjian, Steven Hollon
downloadarchive.org - Brief behavioural activation (BA) treatment for depression (BATD) | Carl Lejuez | 2014 download archived copy
- Behavioral activation | David Fresco download archived copy
- Behavioral activation for depression and PTSD | Amy Wagner download archived copy
- Behavioral activation: an effective intervention for late life depression | Dolores Gallagher-Thompson, Kim Bullock | 2012 download archived copy
Recommended Reading
- Dimidjian et al (2006). Randomized trial of behavioral activation, cognitive therapy, and antidepressant medication in the acute treatment of adults with major depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(4), 658-670
downloadarchive.org - Dobson, K. S., Hollon, S. D., Dimidjian, S., Schmaling, K. B., Kohlenberg, R. J., Gallop, R. J., … & Jacobson, N. S. (2008). Randomized trial of behavioral activation, cognitive therapy, and antidepressant medication in the prevention of relapse and recurrence in major depression. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 76(3), 468 download
- *Ferster, C. B. (1973). A functional analysis of depression. American Psychologist, 28 (10), 857. download archived copy
- Hopko, D. R., Ryba, M. M., McIndoo, C., & File, A. (2015). 14 Behavioral Activation. The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies, 229 download
- Jacobson, N. S., Martell, C. R., & Dimidjian, S. (2001). Behavioral activation treatment for depression: Returning to contextual roots. Clinical Psychology: science and practice, 8(3), 255-270. download archived copy
- Jacobson, N. S., Dobson, K. S., Truax, P. A., Addis, M. E., Koerner, K., Gollan, J. K., Gortner, E., Prince, S. E. (1996). A component analysis of cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(2), 295-305
downloadarchived copy - Veale, D. (2008). Behavioral activation for depression. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 14, 29-36 download download
What Is Behavioral Activation?
History of BA
BA has its origins in the Skinner’s radical behavioral approach (Skinner, 1953). In the 1970s behaviorists trained by Skinner developed behavioral models of depression that proposed that depression could be treated by re-establishing contact with positive reinforcement and by learning social skills that are helpful for maintaining contact with stable sources of positive reinforcement (Ferster, 1973; Lewinsohn, 1974; Lewinsohn, Antonuccio, Steinmetz-Breckenridge, & Teri, 1984). Aaron Beck recognized the value of behavioral techniques in the treatment of depression and incorporated them into the original cognitive therapy manual (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979). The paradigm shift toward cognitive approaches meant that purely behavioral treatments received relatively less attention. However, in 1996 Jacobson and colleagues published a component analysis comparing activity scheduling / behavioral activation; cognitive restructuring; and a combination of activity scheduling, cognitive restructuring, and core belief modification. The surprising result was that the combined CBT condition performed no better than the behavioral or cognitive interventions alone. In the wake of the Jacobson component analysis Martell, Addis, and Jacobson published a BA treatment package Depression in Context: Strategies for Guided Actionin 2001. At the same time Lejuez, Hopko, and Hopko published an alternative BA package in 2001 titled Brief Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression (BATD). Hopko, Lejuez, Ruggiero, and Eifert (2003) published a helpful comparison of the BA and BATD packages, and Kanter, Busch, and Rusch (2009) provide a helpful synthesis of BA and BATD concepts.
BA Interventions
Two different implementations of behavioral activation are widely used: BA and BATD. Intervention techniques in BA/BATD include:
- activity monitoring
- activity scheduling / simple activation
- identifying and overcoming avoidance
- attending to client values to guide activation
- functional analysis to understand the function and reinforcers of behavior
- stimulus control interventions to modify the client’s environment in ways intended to evoke target behavior
- contingency management (shaping rewards and reinforcers)
- skills training (problem solving, skills training, social skills training)
- mindful valued activation (preventing emotional avoidance)
- relapse prevention
References
- Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: Guilford Press.
- Ferster, C. B. (1973). A functional analysis of depression. American Psychologist, 28(10), 857–870.
- Hopko, D. R., Lejuez, C. W., Ruggiero, K. J., & Eifert, G. H. (2003). Contemporary behavioral activation treatments for depression: Procedures, principles, and progress. Clinical Psychology Review, 23(5), 699–717.
- Jacobson, N. S., Dobson, K. S., Truax, P. A., Addis, M. E., Koerner, K., Gollan, J. K., … & Prince, S. E. (1996). A component analysis of cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(2), 295–304.
- Kanter, J. W., Busch, A. M., & Rusch, L. C. (2009). Behavioral activation. CBT Distinctive Features Series.New York: Routledge.
- Lejuez, C. W., Hopko, D. R., & Hopko, S. D. (2001). A brief behavioral activation treatment for depression: Treatment manual. Behavior Modification, 25(2), 255–286.
- Lewinsohn, P. (1974). A behavioral approach to depression. In R. J. Friedman & M. M. Katz (Eds.), Psychology of depression: Contemporary theory and research. Washington, DC: Winston.
- Lewinsohn, P. M., Antonuccio, D. O., Steinmetz-Breckenridge, J., & Teri, L. (1984). The coping with depression course. Eugene, OR: Castalia Press.
- Martell, C. R., Addis, M. E., & Jacobson, N. S. (2001). Depression in context: Strategies for guided action. New York: Norton.
- Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior (No. 92904). Simon and Schuster.