The Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy
(CBASP) was developed specifically to treat the chronically
depressed adult. It has been tested in the largest psychotherapy
and medication clinical trial ever conducted in either psychology
and psychiatry and was found to be as effective as medication,
and when combined with medicine, it produced highly significant
response to treatment rates.
The results were reported in The New England Journal of Medicine
in May, 2000 (see
Research Articles for
full reference).
CBASP was developed over a period of years by James P.
McCullough, Jr., Professor of Psychology & Psychiatry,
at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. McCullough began
working with this population during the mid-1970s beginning
a step-by-step, inductive, trial-by-error process which
led to the construction of the current treatment model.
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The therapy system synthesizes the theoretical writings
of several prominent psychologists: Martin E.P. Seligman’s
views of helplessness; Albert Bandura’s Social
Learning Theory; Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive-emotional
development; B.F. Skinner’s proposals describing
the individual’s contingent relationship with his/her
environment as well as his writings describing how behavior change
occurs when a patient confronts directly the consequences
of his/her behavior; finally, the interpersonal writings
and theory of D.J. Kiesler. These variegated ideas and
assumptions about early development, behavior, and behavior
change have been synthesized by Dr. McCullough and
provide the theoretical foundations for CBASP. The
foundations of the model enable the therapist to treat
the chronically depressed patient from a broadband perspective
addressing cognitive-emotive-behavioral domains as they
interact with the patient’s environment as well as to teach
specific interpersonal skills.
Chronic depression is a disorder which lasts two or more
years and without adequate treatment, it becomes a lifetime
problem. There are approximately 20 million chronically depressed
adults in the U.S. whose treatment expenses and costs to
industry in terms of lowered work productivity and absenteeism
exceed $40 billion annually. This figure does not include
the social problems, financial depletion, discord in the
marriage and family, and lowered quality of life which
afflict this patient population. CBASP has been successfully
administered to chronically depressed patients, and when
CBASP is combined with a contemporary antidepressant medicine,
prognosis for a favorable outcome is good.