The Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Treating Depressio

In this assignment I will introduce my research project and examine some of the issues surrounding my topic, take an initial look at the research papers I have chosen for my literature review and consider the wider context that the research took place in. I have chosen to look into the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy(CBT) on treating depression in primary care. I am interested in this particular area of counselling as my impression is that it is currently the favoured form of counselling that is offered when people approach their GP for help. Currently the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom recommend CBT as the best talking therapy for treating a wide range of conditions (Barret, 2009). As part of the UK government’s Improving Access to Pyschological Therapies (IAPT) scheme there is an emphasis on using CBT to help(Barrett, 2009). As I am interested in pursuing a career in counselling I want to find out more about CBT to see if this is a career path I wish to follow. There seems to be a logic in training in a field of counselling with good employment prospects but I would only want to do this if I also believed in it’s effectiveness. Therefore I would like to see if CBT is the best therapy for the NHS to use to help people, specifically those with depression. I have chosen depression as focus as I am aware of how many people are affected by depression and think that it is important that the NHS provides the best kind of help to these people. Through my job as debt counsellor and experiences of volunteering for the Samaritans I have spoken to many people with depression and am curious about what is the best way to help them. I want to look at how CBT compares to other alternatives avail... ... It is worth adding that to only look at the situation from a cost perspective does not consider the human suffering angle. It could be argued that it would be immoral to withdraw the option of therapy from the elderly because there is no economic incentive. In practice, however, Hebble (2004) found that old people do not receive the same level of help as those of working age. Holman’s study will provide an interesting insight into whether therapy should be provided more to the elderly. Having looked at the world surrounding the IAPT scheme and introduced the specific studies we have concluded this part of the literature review. Having gained an understanding of the political and social issues that influence the research. The next paper will look into the research methods used and consider what effect these methods may have had on the outcome of the studies.