Psychotherapeutic Alternatives in Depression Treatment

Overview

At present it is generally recognized that, apart from pharmacotherapy, depression, whether it occurs as part of a depressive episode or a recurrent depressive disorder, also requires psychotherapeutic intervention. Contrary to the somewhat one-sided promotion of only certain procedures, the literature offers a great number of other methods drawing on different psychotherapeutic systems. Naturally, proving their effectiveness according to the criteria of evidence-based medicine remains a problematic issue: the procedures applied are based on various theoretical platforms and their results are evaluated in research using different methodologies. The article does not seek to compare the effectiveness of different psychotherapeutic schools in depression treatment, but to provide a review of intermingling psychotherapeutic approaches. The article also touches on different combinations of forms and arrangements, as well as on the potential adverse effects of psychotherapy.

Key words:
depression, psychotherapy, outcome-oriented approaches, process-oriented approaches.