Rumination-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression

Negative rumination plays a key role in the onset and maintenance of depression and anxiety--and targeting this persistent mental habit in treatment can lead to better client outcomes and reduced residual symptoms. Rumination-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (RFCBT) for depression combines carefully adapted elements of CBT with imagery, visualization, and compassion-based techniques. Leading clinician-researcher Edward R. Watkins provides everything needed to implement this innovative, empirically supported 12-session approach, including sample dialogues, a chapter-length case example, reflections and learning exercises for therapists, and 10 reproducible client handouts. Purchasers get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

Edward R. Watkins, PhD, CPsychol, is Professor of Experimental and Applied Clinical Psychology at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom, and Director of the Mood Disorders Centre and the Study of Maladaptive to Adaptive Repetitive Thought (SMART) Lab. Dr. Watkins has practiced as a cognitive-behavioral therapist for 20 years, specializing in depression. His research focuses on the experimental understanding of psychopathology in depression--with a particular focus on repetitive negative thought and rumination--and the development and evaluation of new psychological interventions for mood disorders, including randomized controlled trials of treatments targeting rumination in depression. Dr. Watkins is a recipient of the British Psychological Society's May Davidson Award for outstanding contributions to the development of clinical psychology within the first 10 years of his career.

I. Rumination Processes in Psychopathology and Treatment
1. Why a Treatment Targeting Rumination?
2. Understanding Rumination
3. Key Components and Principles of RFCBT
II. Rumination-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
4. Initial Assessment
5. Therapy Rationale and Goal Setting
6. Functional Analysis of Rumination
7. Choosing Treatment Interventions
8. Practice at Developing Interventions: Addressing Difficulties and Hurdles
9. Shifting Processing Style: Becoming Concrete and Specific
10. Shifting Processing Style: Absorption
11. Shifting Processing Style: Compassion
III. Application and Extension of RFCBT
12. A Case of RFCBT from Beginning to End
13. Adaptations of RFCBT
Appendix. Handouts
References
Index