Behavioral Activation

In Behavioral Activation, Christopher Martell, PhD, demonstrates a contemporary, contextual approach to behavioral activation considered brief behavioral activation (BBA). BA and BBA provide options for outpatient treatment, treatment in low resource communities, and in-patient care. In this video, Dr. Martell works with a client who is experiencing depression. He demonstrates how to explain a behavioral treatment approach to the client and create a plan that helps them begin reconnecting with their values and engaging in meaningful activities. Behavioral activation allows the therapist and client to discuss possible barriers to activation that are either external, such as lack of funding, or internal, such as low motivation, rumination and brooding over problems and look to consider alternatives to overcome those barriers. Hosted by Alice Coyne, PhD, the session shows the power of behavioral activation to move a patient from inaction to action. 

Behavioral Activation (BA) is a treatment for depression and other disorders that considers the development and maintenance of the psychological problem is centered in environmental factors, the clients' response to life events and biological predispositions, and the resulting maintenance of the disorder through various reinforcement contingencies and avoidance patterns. Originally articulated by Peter Lewinsohn and colleagues in their development of pleasant events scheduling, and theoretically driven by the work of CB Ferster in the 1970s, BA has been a part of cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression for decades. Research confirmed that for some clients, BA alone, without the additional cognitive therapy components is an efficacious treatment for depression, and it has been applied also in treatment for other disorders.

Christopher Martell, PhD, ABPP, is Director of the Psychological Services Center and Professor of Practice in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Massachusetts, USA. Dr. Martell is first author of two of the primary texts on contemporary behavioral activation (BA), "Depression in Context: Strategies for Guided Action" with Dr. Michael Addis and the Late Dr. Neil S. Jacobson, and "Behavioral Activation for Depression: A Clinician's Guide" with Drs. Sona Dimidjian and Ruth Herman-Dunn. He has co-authored many chapters and articles on BA and on affirmative care with sexual minority and gender diverse clients. He was in private practice in Seattle, Washington for 23 years and on clinical faculty in the departments of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Washington prior to turning his attention exclusively to training the next generation of students. Dr. Martell is known internationally for his work on Behavioral Activation (BA) in the treatment of depression and other disorders, and provides clinical consultation and training on BA research and practice worldwide.

APA videos

Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy With Gay Men
Christopher R. Martell, PhD, ABPP

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression
Keith S. Dobson, PhD

Functional Analysis and Behavioral Activation for Substance Use
Carl Lejuez, PhD

Behavioral Therapy Over Time
Martin M. Antony, PhD, ABPP

Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Adolescent Depression
John F. Curry, PhD

Cognitive–Behavioral Therapy Strategies
Keith S. Dobson, PhD

APA books

Behavioral Interventions in Cognitive Behavior Therapy: Practical Guidance for Putting Theory Into Action, Third Edition
Richard F. Farmer and Alexander L. Chapman

Integrated Behavioral Health in Primary Care: Step-by-Step Guidance for Assessment and Intervention, Third Edition
Christopher L. Hunter, Jeffrey L. Goodie, Mark S. Oordt, and Anne C. Dobmeyer

Deliberate Practice in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
James F. Boswell and Michael J. Constantino

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques and Strategies
Amy Wenzel, Keith S. Dobson, and Pamela A. Hays

Handbook of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Edited by Amy Wenzel

Strategic Decision Making in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Amy Wenzel

Other suggested resources

Martell, C. R., Dimidjian, S, & Herman-Dunn, R. (2022), Behavioral Activation for Depression: A Clinician's Guide (Second Edition). New York: Guilford Press.

Martell, C. R., Dimidjian, S, & Herman-Dunn, R. (2022), Behavioral Activation for Depression: A Clinician's Guide (Second Edition). New York: Guilford Press.

Dimidjian, S., Barrera, Jr., M., Martell, C., Munoz, R.F., & Lewinsohn, P. M. (2011). The origins and current status of behavioral activation treatments for depression. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 7, 1-38. DOI:10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032210-104535.

Kanter, J.W., Busch, A. M, & Rusch, L.C. (2009). Behavioral Activation. New York: Routledge.

Stein, A., T., Carl, E., Cujpers, P., Karyotaki, E., & Smits, J.A. (2021). Looking beyond depression: A meta-analysis of the effect of behavioral activation on depression, anxiety, and activation. Psychological Meicine, 51(9), 1491-1504.

Sturmey, P. (2009). Behavioral activation is an evidence-based treatment for depression. Behavior Modification, 33(6), 818-829.