Behavioral Activation: One Of The Most Effective Therapies Against Depression
Both depression and any of the conditions or disorders related to it have been a great field of research from the point of view of psychological treatment. Throughout the history of psychology, researchers have struggled to develop an effective therapy that relieves its symptoms in the shortest time possible.
One of these recent treatments is Behavioral Activation A therapy that is based on the idea that modifying the patient’s behavior will have a positive impact on their mood.
Behavioral Activation (BA) is a relatively new therapy, it does not have much more than 30 years of history behind it, which treats depression functionally and from the point of view of the person’s context.
According to the creators of this type of intervention, Behavioral Activation relies on the person’s context to explain their symptoms Thus, the therapy defends that acting on this context is much more effective than acting on symptoms or internal factors, such as neurobiological alterations or psychological symptoms.
Furthermore, Behavioral Activation establishes that the behaviors carried out by people with depression are more than simple symptoms of the clinical picture, and that these have a very important significance within the disorder.
The psychological mechanism on which Behavioral Activation is based has to do with the beginning of habits capable of providing immediate and medium-term incentives, capable of making the person become more psychologically and mentally active. That is, through new ways of interacting with the environment and with others, a more optimistic and constructive mentality is being favored oriented towards specific goals and on which one can focus, getting rid of disturbing thoughts.
Behavioral Activation originated from behavioral techniques that are carried out within Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Therapy.
The initial idea was to make a comparison between the behavioral part of the traditional intervention, the behavioral intervention together with the cognitive intervention and comprehensive therapy. After making this comparison, the results showed that only carrying out a behavioral modification in the patient, he presented the same level of improvement as with the complete intervention.
Therefore, It was concluded that cognitive modifications or intervention techniques were not so necessary in the treatment of depression , assuming only a burden for the treatment. Following these conclusions, it was proposed to consider the purely behavioral intervention as a therapy independent of traditional cognitive therapy, becoming what is known today as Behavioral Activation.
It is necessary to specify that although Behavioral Activation does not work on the person’s cognition, it is not ignored. Rather, these are expected to change as a consequence of behavioral modifications.
Principles of Behavioral Activation
There are two aspects to take into account when starting an intervention through Behavioral Activation:
In this way, Behavioral Activation evaluates and analyzes both the events that appear in the patient’s life and the behavioral responses that this this gives to these situations.
Regarding the person’s responses, one of the basic principles of Behavioral Activation is that the person with depression carries out a series of avoidant behaviors consequence of the lack of positive reinforcement and the predominance of unstimulating situations. This avoidance tendency can manifest itself through the interruption of daily tasks and activities, through ruminative thoughts or through the interactions that the person does or does not have with other people.
How is it carried out as a psychological intervention?
Taking into account the principle of behavioral avoidance, Behavioral Activation therapy aims to restore the person’s behavioral dynamics prior to depression
The first step to achieve this is to activate the person, hence the name of the therapy, even though the person is depressed. Through this, Behavioral Activation aims to systematically increase the number of positive behaviors carried out by the person with the intention that they find a greater number of reinforcers that promote a change in the person at the level of behavior, cognition and mood.
However, Behavioral Activation does not try to increase the number of the person’s behaviors, regardless of their nature, but rather a functional behavioral analysis must be performed to detect those significant and functional behaviors which should be promoted.
Therefore, Behavioral Activation is a therapy that is developed and adapted to the patient’s uniqueness.
Finally, the dynamic of therapy is not to modify cognition and mood so that the person changes their behavior, but to act despite the mood. This specific point is closely associated with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, in which the person must first accept his current condition to act and be able to change it.
Advantages of this type of psychotherapy
Defenders of Behavioral Activation therapy rely on a series of advantages or benefits that it provides compared to other therapies such as pharmacological or cognitive therapies.
These advantages are as follows.
1. Demedicalization
Behavioral Activation is presented as an effective and fast alternative to drug treatment for depression being as effective as this and without causing unwanted side effects.
Therefore, this discourse in favor of demedicalization has managed to gain many followers.
2. Alternative to cognitive therapy
As an alternative to cognitive therapy, Behavioral Activation has turned out to be much more effective and with much faster results Since modifying thoughts and beliefs requires a greater investment of time.
3. Speed ​​in results
Thanks to the adjustment of the therapy to the patient’s needs and its structuring, Behavioral Activation It is a therapy that requires few sessions, approximately 15 which means rapid results and an economic advantage compared to other forms of psychological intervention.
