MHM Magazine

Imagine you’re a general practitioner. You have a patient, let’s call him Vusi, who comes to you with symptoms of depression. Vusi has low mood, is unable to enjoy things he used to find enjoyable, has lost his appetite, sleeps most of the day, feels worthless, is socially withdrawn, and has thoughts of harming himself. As a clinician it’s clear to you that Vusi is struggling and requires some form of help so these symptoms can go away and he can function more effectively. You understand that psychological therapy can be helpful, but you might not be sure whom to refer Vusi to or which kind of psychological therapy would be most helpful to him. Fortunately, there is a substantial body of research that can guide you. Many studies have shown that various forms of psychological treatment have a large chance of helping people with depression. One of these therapeutic modalities is cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT as it’s known. Very briefly, CBT is a structured form of psychological therapy in which the therapist collaboratively helps the patient to identify and alter unhelpful ways of thinking. These unhelpful ways of thinking are thought to be responsible for depressed feelings. The job of the therapist is to assist the patient identify the links between their thoughts, feelings and behaviour. In doing so, the patient can make changes, using a variety of techniques such as identifying Prof Ashraf Kagee Stellenbosch University skagee@cun.ac.za WHAT DO DIRECTORS OF CLINICAL AND COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY TRAINING PROGRAMMES THINK OF EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE? Prof Crick Lund Kings College London Crick.Lund@uct.ac.za MHM | 2024 | Volume 11 | Issue 6 | What do directors of clinical and counselling psychology training programmes think of evidence-based practice? MHM Issue 6 | 2024 | MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS | 21 MHM