Treatments for Depression and Anxiety Disorders Course

TDA-400 Treatments for Depression and Anxiety Disorders

This course in a nutshell:
Discussion Topics: Practical information and cognitive-behavioural techniques that can be readily applied to a wide variety of anxiety and depression disorders typically found in brief-term counselling situations.
Skills: You will learn to apply the cognitive-behavioural model to interviewing, assessment, goal setting, contracting, and treatment of symptoms related to depression and anxiety in adults, children, and adolescents.

Course Content
Research studies support the use of a cognitive-behavioural model to alleviate presenting symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. The focus of Treatments for Depression and Anxiety Disorders (TDA-400) course is to apply the cognitive-behavioural approach to interviewing, assessment, collaborative goal setting, contracting, and the choice of appropriate techniques to treat clients who are experiencing depression and anxiety.

The general aim of this course is to provide students with the latest theories, research, and techniques related to the use of the cognitive-behavioral model for interviewing, goal setting, treatment planning and intervention techniques as applied to the treatment of problems relating to depression and anxiety.

PORTFOLIO OF JOB SKILLS

What you will learn:

Your level of proficiency and competence with the skills introduced in this course will deepen as you proceed through the program. Upon graduation from the Diploma or Certificate program, you may include the following skills as part of your Professional Portfolio:

  1. Ability to conduct an assessment interview to identify problematic behaviours, and distorted cognitive patterns that relate to the following disorders:
    • depression
    • panic disorder
    • agoraphobia
    • generalized anxiety
    • social phobia
    • specific phobia
    • posttraumatic stress
    • obsessive-compulsive disorder
  2. Ability to develop a treatment plan to modify problematic behaviours and cognitive patterns relating to the above disorders.
  3. Ability to apply appropriate use of cognitive–behavioural techniques such as:
    • reward planning
    • distraction
    • exposure
    • relaxation
    • thought stopping
    • visualization
    • identifying and challenging cognitive distortions/irrational thought patterns
  4. Ability to incorporate less directive techniques such as empathy, and reflective listening in addition to more directive cognitive-behavioural techniques in order to build trust and foster collaborative treatment strategies.
  5. Ability to use the forms, questionnaires, and inventories presented in the text specific to assessment, treatment planning and throughout the counselling process.
  6. Ability to construct outcome measures to determine the efficacy of the treatment.
  7. Ability to take a directive role as the counsellor when implementing a cognitive-behavioural approach.
  8. Ability to assess for suicidal risk, or self-harm behaviours and make the appropriate intervention.
  9. Ability to assess for disorders which fall outside the counsellor’s scope of training and to refer to appropriate service providers when necessary.

(NOTE: The skill set you will learn in this course comprises areas of core competence required for the practice of professional counselling.)