Behavioral activation (BA)

BA is both a component of cognitive behavioral therapy and a treatment by itself.¹ It focuses on the way events in a patient’s life can contribute to the mental illness and how the patient responds to those events.² BA helps the patient to address the inactivity, withdrawal, and inertia that are associated depressive disorders, and work toward learning more positive patterns of behavior.² It also helps with restoring disrupted routines related to daily functioning, such as eating and sleeping.² While a full treatment course of BA consists of 20–24 sessions, an abbreviated version with 8–15 sessions is available.³

Description:	BA is both a component of cognitive behavioral therapy and a treatment by itself.¹ It focuses on the way events in a patient’s life can contribute to the mental illness and how the patient responds to those events.² BA helps the patient to address the inactivity, withdrawal, and inertia that are associated depressive disorders, and work toward learning more positive patterns of behavior.² It also helps with restoring disrupted routines related to daily functioning, such as eating and sleeping.² While a full treatment course of BA consists of 20–24 sessions, an abbreviated version with 8–15 sessions is available.³
Potentially effective for the following mental health concerns:	Depressive disorders
Potentially effective in the following age groups:	Adult, Geriatric
Treatment setting options:	Individual, Group
Treatment format options:	In-person, Telephone, Online
Typical treatment duration:	< 10 sessions, 10-20 sessions, 20+ sessions
Potential limitations:	BA has few limitations, and it has been shown to be effective, low-cost, and easy to implement by inexperienced providers.^5,6

Footnotes:

Supporting references for the filters are as follows: Potentially effective for the following mental health concerns: Depressive disorders^1,4; Potentially effective in the following age groups: Adult⁴, Geriatric⁵; Treatment setting options: Individual², Group⁵; Treatment format options: In-person⁵, Telephone⁴, Online^4,5; Typical treatment duration: < 10 sessions, 10–20 sessions, 20+ sessions³

References:

Dobson, KS et al. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2008;76(3):468-477.
Jacobson, NS et al. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. 2001;8(3):255-270.
Hershenberg, R & Goldstein, S. Treatment: Behavioral Activation for Depression. Diagnosis: Depression. 2015. https://www.div12.org/treatment/behavioral-activation-for-depression/. Accessed March 2, 2020.
Parikh, SV et al. Can J Psychiatry. 2016;61(9):524-539.
Ekers, D et al. PLoS One. 2014;9(6):e100100.
Richards, DA et al. The Lancet. 2016;388(10047):871-880.