Supportive-Expressive and Emotion-Focused Treatment for Depression

Conditions studied

Major Depressive Disorder

About this study

This study will explore the mechanisms of change that are activated when individuals receive a treatment that targets their weakness and the mechanisms activated when the treatment capitalize on their strength. Patients will be assigned to one of two types of psychotherapies in treating people with a major depression disorder, expressive-supportive vs. emotion-focused treatment. Their ability to benefit from treatment based on their pre-treatment levels of insight and emotional processing will be examined. This is a four-month protocol, with a 2 year follow up period.

Interventions

• Behavioral: Supportive-expressive treatment — Sixteen weeks of a time-limited psychodynamic therapy adapted for depression that includes the use of expressive techniques, such as interpretation, confrontation, clarification and the use of supportive techniques, such as affirmation and empathic validation. This treatment postulates insight as its core mechanism of change.
• Behavioral: Emotions-Focused treatment — Sixteen weeks of a brief experiential therapy for depression that combine client-centered relational elements (unconditional positive regard, congruence, and empathy) with marker-guided experiential interventions designed to facilitate and deepen emotional processing and emotion regulation.

Primary outcomes

• Weekly change in Hamilton rating scale for depression (HRSD) (up to 16 weeks.)

Eligibility information

Study locations

• University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel