Neil S. Jacobson

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors defined clinically significant change as the extent to which therapy moves someone outside the range of the dysfunctional population or within the ranges of the functional population, and proposed a reliable change index (RC) to determine whether the magnitude of change for a given client is statistically reliable.

TL;DR: Among more severely depressed patients, behavioral activation was comparable to antidepressant medication, and both significantly outperformed cognitive therapy, and the implications of current treatment guidelines and dissemination are discussed.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide an experimental test of the theory of change put forth by A. T. Beck, A. J.Rush, B. F. Shaw, and G. Emery (1979) to explain the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CT) for depression.

TL;DR: Behavioral activation (BA) as discussed by the authors is designed to help individuals approach and access sources of positive reinforcement in their lives, which can serve a natural antidepressant function, which counter patterns of avoidance, withdrawal, and inactivity that may exacerbate depressive episodes by generating additional secondary problems in individuals' lives.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors found that treating depression by helping to activate people (behavioral action) is just as effective as helping them to change their thinking (cognitive therapy).