Cognitive-behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy: an interactional treatment approach for dysthymic disorder

Dysthymic disorder, a troublesome problem for many young adults, can be effectively treated by focusing the client's attention on the interactional problems the person reports to the therapist. In therapy, interactional issues frequently take a backseat to the more obvious intrapersonal symptoms that many contemporary theories of depression emphasize. James Coyne (1976, 1982) has recently pointed out this oversight to workers in the field. The first part of the paper will discuss several aspects of current treatment approaches that deal with depression from an intrapersonal perspective. I will argue that a more realistic approach to treatment must involve accentuating the interactional predicament of the dysthymic. The Cognitive-Behavioral Analysis System, which will be introduced in the second part of the paper, approaches both the intrapersonal and interpersonal problems of the dysthymic from an interactional perspective. Four successful direct replication cases will be described, illustrating the efficacy of such an approach.