Behavioral Activation and Emotion-focused Interventions in the Treatment of Depression

Behavioral activation with emotion-focused interventions comprises two consecutive phases. In the first phase, treatment focus is behavioral activation in line with Brief behavioral activation treatment for depression - revised (BATD-R; 11) During the second phase, treatment focus shifts to address participants' emotions. Difficulties in understanding, tolerating, and labeling emotions is addressed by observing and describing emotions (12). Under the guidance of the therapist, participants are instructed to explore emotions normally avoided or ruminated on. This is conceptualized as a form of exposure to aversive emotions, thoughts and memories, to initiate emotional processing (13).