Behavioral Activation

What is behavioral activation?

Behavioral activation is a straightforward treatment for depression. Depression makes people pull back: less activity, less contact with others, fewer things that feel good or useful. Pulling back then deepens the depression. Behavioral activation breaks that cycle by planning and doing activities that matter, before motivation returns.

That last part is the key. Most people wait to feel better before doing more. In depression, the order usually has to flip.

How it works

• Tracking. A simple log of what you do each day and how your mood shifts with it.

• Values. Naming what matters to you: family, health, work, creativity, faith, friends.

• Small steps. Picking activities linked to those values, sized so they're doable on a bad day.

• Scheduling. Putting them on a calendar at a set time, not "when I feel up to it."

• Problem solving. Looking at what got in the way and adjusting.

The evidence

Studies have found behavioral activation works about as well as full cognitive behavioral therapy for depression, and it's simpler to learn and deliver. A recent review summarizes the research.

Behavioral activation at Sanare

Scheduling a walk in a session is easy. Actually taking the walk on Tuesday morning is the hard part. Sanare clinicians are often there for that part, at least at first.

A client might set a goal of going to the library twice a week. Their clinician meets them there the first two times, then checks in by phone after the third, and eventually they go on their own. Small wins stack up, and so does mood.

We use behavioral activation with clients living with major depression, mood disorders, bipolar depression, anxiety and trauma, often alongside CBT.

Behavioral activation in Denver

We work with adults across the Denver and Boulder metro, one to five visits a week. Reach out or call 303.476.1974.