A short term intervention derived from behavioral therapy is Behavioral Activation (BA). Designed primarily as a brief treatment for depression, BA lays the groundwork to empowerment or stimuli by identifying the components of a behavior analysis which pertain to; reason, purpose and motivation. Charles Ferster’s functional analysis of depression has been described as the theoretical underpinning of BA. In support of the conceptualization of depression through behavior, it has been noted that a common component of depression is the depleted participation in pleasure seeking and enjoyable activities. In the behavioral model developed by Lewishohn, it is explained how when people’s lives change along …show more content…
In their featured studies the primary objective was to compared a total of 17 studies that look into late life depression, while using PUBMED and PsycINFO databases, to screen for their review. While they point out how most studies that used a self-rating scale for depression can have some limitations in regards to reliability, they were able to identify an important variable in measuring the effectiveness of BA, which was activity selection and scheduling. Throughout each study examined they found the level of effectiveness of BA for late life depression to reduced depressive symptoms relative to control groups (Meeks et al., 2008; Snarski et al., …show more content…
This is stress by focusing on the given activity and not the actual mood of the consumer. Reaching for small goals it also important when initiating BA as a means for change. In theory, emphasizing given activities can lead to a bigger change in behaviors and activation that can bring positive reinforcement. With professional help, from a clinician or a trained professional, BA can be guided and encourage by coaching the consumer to problem solve and help process behaviors and results from a planned activity.
Typically, the BA model will seek to look for what happened in the consumer’s recent history, which is follow by assessing the effect of events. This creates a window to examine the feeling and mood brought on by the events in question. The provider should also discuse the actions taken by the consumer following the events which in turn can facilitate the process of identifying stressors or rewards. This provides the structure needed to assess with direction and allows clinicians to connect a biopsychosocial element to the