CBT Role-Play - Depressive Symptoms and Lack of Motivation

I liked the example of challenging the client's labels. When she used the word "lazy", the counselor clarified that this was a word she chose to interpret, not actually what her loved one's said or possibly even feel. Recognizing the difference seems to be one of the first steps to helping the client.

As someone who has struggled with depressive episodes for years, this has lots of value - not just the methods used for treating the individual problems, but recognising that there are others out there experiencing the same things! Great actors used in these videos too.

I liked how the counselor pointed out that it is the behavior that comes first even if the feeling does not match. Often times, the behaviors that are useful are abandoned due to a conflict in feelings. It was even helpful for me to hear it as a counseling student, because I experience days where I know what I should be doing to help me get ahead or benefit me and my family, but don't because I do not have the motivation or the will power to do so. I think that by keeping the behavior as the focus and practicing doing so routinely will eventually lead to better outcomes. I also liked how the counselor encouraged the client to consciously utilize self talk.

Good actors in your videos. I feel like I'm watching a real session.

Acting or not, I feel like she is relaying my story here. As a stay at home mom for 15+ years, I was her. Now I went back to workforce and find an immediate relieve, but I have a long way to go to be free of those negative feelings and feeling of failure. This was a great video.

Doc does a very good job of shifting the client's negative thinking from what she is feeling to how she would like to feel by pointing out the discrepancies in her behavioral patterns. I liked how he systematically guided her through her automatic thought processes and allowed her to come up with self talk methods to counter them.

Getting up is one of the hardest things..Working on it every day

Todd, thank you for sharing your work. I am a brand new therapist (graduated in January 2018 with an MS in counseling/ marriage, family, and child therapy), and am in my first job working as an outpatient therapist. I feel that I am sorely underprepared for the important work entrusted to me. Watching your videos is incredibly helpful. Thank you.

Im crying,because she is describing exactly what's going on with me. I haven't been able to put it in to words...im in the thick of it and now I know I have depression totally.

boy, if one has or has had depression, this really hits home - hard to watch. . .

I like the way you encourage her to work on small goals so that she doesn't feel overwhelmed. Achieving small goals is an excellent approach to treating depression.

I love this video. In particularly I love when Dr. Grande says, "Behavior that is useful has to come first even if the feeling doesn't match." That is incredibly practical and that kind of common sense explanation helps people start to put the pieces together.  I also like how  he covered how many days they would be apart (before their next appt), discussed their plan insofar as what she should attempt/aim for, and reminded her that it is a day to day thing.  He was preparing her for the setbacks  in a way that would hopefully not allow them to defeat her. Very much enjoyed seeing this unfold as a process.

This role play was really riveting. I still can’t believe it’s acting. It brought back a lot of memories. I suffered from depression after dropping out of 3 years of medical school- well I was probably depressed during medical school, hence the decision to leave. I never thought I’d be depression free and I never understood (at the time) why I felt depressed. CBT was so critical to getting better, but I can only see it in hindsight. The effect on the patient (for me) was very gradual. For those experiencing depression, don’t lose hope. Get into therapy and take it day by day. For me the factors that lead to depression took a long time to develop and a long time to change. I can barely remember what it was like to feel depressed now because I changed so fundamentally that the way I process the world has helped to make me not just better, but depression resistant.

This was a really good video. I like the way Dr. Grande identified her automatic thoughts and then systematically helped her see that logically her behavior was accomplishing the opposite of what she wanted it to accomplish. Then he developed an adaptive response to replace her thoughts and resulting behavior.

You made me gain back my enthusiasm regarding CBT. I had no chance to see such good demonstrations. Also I wish that my first clients are such insightful, cooperating and motivated for change as your actor is. It was extremely educative to see how skillfully techniques can be integrated into a session. This video touched me emotionally because I thought that I wish I had a therapist like you to help me feel less depressed when all I do was to sleep with a wish for not being able to wake up again. Thank you so much for sharing this with us

I need CBD, EBT, DVD...all kind of therapy 😂😂😂 Seriously, these faux sessions are GREAT learning resources! Thanks Doc!

She could be me. I think I can strive for that one victory. Helpful session. Thx, Dr. Grande.

I found this video helpful because I was able to recognize the core aspects of CBT being implemented while the counselor was warm and encouraging.

Thank you Doctor. I love these videos. I hope you make more of these. I neither have access to counselling nor can I afford it, and your videos have helped me gain some insight into what I am going through. Thanks again.

These kinds of videos are super beneficial for those wanting to go down the therapist or counsellor route or whoever wants to learn from other fellow counsellors and learn something new. So thank you so much for all the hard work that goes into making these videos 👍👍