Purpose 🎯

Help clients understand the repeating patterns that maintain depression by identifying connections between thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and withdrawal.

Let’s Talk About It 🗣️

Create a cycle together using four sections:

Situation → Thoughts → Feelings → Behaviors → Consequences

Explore:

• What situations tend to trigger a low mood?
• What thoughts show up during those moments?
• How does depression affect what you do next?
• How do those behaviors impact your mood over time?

If the Conversation Gets Stuck 💡

• When depression is at its strongest, what does it convince you to do?
• What activities have you slowly stopped doing?
• What part of the cycle feels easiest to interrupt?

Telehealth / Whiteboard Version ⚖️

Use a digital whiteboard to draw the cycle together. Allow the client to add examples using text boxes or notes and identify one small point where change can begin.

Why This Works 🌱

Depression often feels like a personal failure rather than a predictable pattern. Mapping the cycle helps clients externalize the process and identify realistic opportunities for change.

Clinical Pearl 🧠

Avoid focusing only on changing thoughts. Many depressed clients need behavioral movement first, because action can create opportunities for motivation and emotional change.

Documentation Language 📝

Therapist utilized a cognitive behavioral intervention to assist client in identifying the relationship between depressive thoughts, emotional responses, behavioral withdrawal, and reinforcing patterns. Client demonstrated increased insight into factors contributing to depressive symptoms and identified potential areas for intervention.

Clinical Focus: Cognitive Behavioral Intervention, Depression Cycle Awareness, Behavioral Withdrawal