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Treatment of chronic depression usually requires combined psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. To assess the distinct contribution of psychotherapy, investigators in Germany enrolled 268 unmedicated patients in a prospective, multisite, randomized study comparing two manual-based psychotherapies — Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP), a combination of behavioral, cognitive, and interpersonal techniques that focuses on social problem solving and is designed specifically for chronic depression, and supportive psychotherapy (SP), which focuses on listening to the patient, facilitating expression of affect, and encouraging empathy, hope, and optimism.
Participants had chronic, recurrent, or double depression (mean age, 45;…