Research support
Type: Strength
Study: Ellis (1957)
- Claimed 90% success rate for REBT
- Average of 27 sessions to complete
- However recognised that treatment was not always successful
- Requires patient to perform actions outside of session
- Cuijpers et al. (2013) also reviewed 75 studies and found CBT was superior to no treatment
- Suggests CBT is an effective form of treatment for depression
Individual differences
Type: Limitation
- Appears to be less effective for individuals with high levels of irrational beliefs that are rigid and resistant to change
- Ellis explains this lack of success in terms of suitability - some people do not want to accept direct advice that CBT tends to give
- Would rather share their worries with a therapist without getting involved with the cognitive effort that is needed for recovery
- Means CBT is suitable for some but not others
Support for behavioural activation
Type: Limitation
Study: Babyak et al. (2000)
- Studied 156 adult volunteers diagnosed with depression
- Randomly assigned to a 4 month course of aerobic exercise, drug treatment or a combination of the two
- 6 months after the study, those in the exercise group had significantly lower relapse rates than those in the medication group
- Suggests that encouraging depressed clients to become more active can help in treating depression
Alternative treatments
Type: Limitation
- Requires more effort on the part of the client than other treatments
- Drug therapies (antidepressants) require less effort than CBT
- However, Cuijpers et al. found that CBT was especially effective if used in conjunction with drug therapies
- Suggests that CBT alone maty take a long time to treat but the usage of drugs alongside makes it easier for the client to cope
The Dodo Bird Effect
Type: Consideration*
Study: Luborsky et al. (1975, 2002)
- Arguably all methods of treatment for mental disorder are close-to-equally effective
- Reviewed over 100 different studies that were compared to different therapies and found small differences in success rates
- Lack of difference may be due to many similarities between psychotherapies
- I.e.., being able to talk to a sympathetic person and having the opportunity to express one’s thoughts
* abnormal evaluation, should not be used standalone