Clinical Depression: An Individualized, Biopsychosocial Approach to Assessment and Treatment

This book offers integrative treatments for clinical depression based on the biopsychosocial model.

PROSE Award Finalist - Biological and Life Sciences: Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry 
 
Keith Dobson synthesizes decades of research and professional experience in this comprehensive guide that follows the therapy process from beginning to end. He starts with a theoretical overview of depression, including its associated features, risk and resiliency factors, and offers a comparative evaluation of various models of depression.
 
Clinical chapters review the intake process, from the initial interview, to formulating an early case conceptualization and ensuring the client’s involvement. Dobson then presents an organizational model to determine which issues to focus on in therapy, and the optimal interventions to address them. He also describes common strategies to target problematic behaviors and cognitions, develop problem-solving skills, and modify maladaptive thoughts and schemas. Guidelines for ending therapy and preventing relapse are also provided, as are considerations related to comorbid disorders, clients’ relationships with significant others, and in-person vs. distance treatment.
 
Recurring case examples with two hypothetical clients help to demonstrate the entire process for assessing, conceptualizing, and treating clinical depression.

Keith S. Dobson, PhD, is professor emeritus of clinical psychology at the University of Calgary where he served as director of the clinical psychology program and head of the Department of Psychology. His research focuses on depression models and treatments, particularly cognitive behavioral therapies. His books include the Handbook of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies, Fourth Edition; Law, Standards and Ethics in the Practice of Psychology, Fourth Edition; The Stigma of Mental Illness; and Treatment of Psychosocial Risk Factors in Depression. He has received numerous awards, including the Canadian Psychological Association Gold Medal for Lifetime Contributions to Psychology and the Order of Canada.