Narrative therapy vs. cognitive-behavioral therapy for moderate depression: empirical evidence from a controlled clinical trial

Abstract

Background: Systematic studies of the efficacy of Narrative Therapy (NT) for depression are sparse.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of individual NT for moderate depression in adults compared to Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

Method: Sixty-three depressed clients were assigned to either NT or CBT. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Outcome Questionnaire-45.2 (OQ-45.2) were used as outcome measures.

Results: We found a significant symptomatic reduction in both treatments. Group differences favoring CBT were found on the BDI-II, but not on the OQ-45.2.

Conclusions: Pre- to post-treatment effect sizes for completers in both groups were superior to benchmarked waiting-list control groups.

Keywords: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy; Empirically Supported Therapy (EST); Narrative Therapy; depression; psychological treatment of depression; treatment of depression.