Does CBT work ? Chasing research evidence..

​Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is one of the world’s most trusted forms of talk therapy for people who feel stuck in cycles of worry, sadness or unhelpful habits. At its heart, CBT is about helping people notice those thoughts that drag them down and gently question whether they’re really true. With practice, they learn to see things differently and respond in healthier ways. CBT is practical, straightforward and focused on what’s happening in your life right now — not just your past. That’s why so many people around the world turn to CBT when they want to feel better and stay well.

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A recent study ( link below) looked at 409 research trials involving over 52,000 people to find out how well Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) works for treating depression.

The findings confirm that CBT does help !
Compared to people who received no treatment or only basic usual care, those who had CBT felt moderately to significantly better. In fact, nearly half ( 42%) of people who did CBT improved, compared to only one-fifths (19%) who didn’t get it.

Importantly, the benefits of CBT were not just short-term. Many people continued to feel better for up to a year after treatment ended, showing that CBT can help people stay well over time.

Is CBT better than other talk therapies?
Here, the results were mixed. CBT had only a slight edge over other types of psychotherapy, but the difference was very small and often disappeared when the data were double-checked. This means that other well-established therapies — like Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), psychodynamic therapy, supportive therapy, behavioural activation, and problem-solving therapy — can be just as helpful. So people have a choice and can pick an approach that feels most comfortable or matches their needs.

How does CBT compare to antidepressant medication?
In the short term, it works just as well as medication. But after 6 to 12 months, people who did CBT were doing better than those who only took medicine.
Also, combining CBT with medication was more helpful than taking medicine alone.
However, adding medicine to CBT didn’t make a big difference — suggesting limited additional benefit if you’re already doing CBT.

The study also found that CBT works in many formats — whether you meet a therapist in person, online or use online-tool or do it in a group, or use self-help guides.

It works for children, teenagers, and people getting treatment in hospitals.

In short, CBT is a proven and flexible option to treat depression. It can help many people feel better and stay better, often just as well — or better — than pills.

And if CBT doesn’t feel like the right fit, there are other effective therapies to choose from too.

Reference -
Cuijpers P, Miguel C, Harrer M, Plessen CY, Ciharova M, Ebert D, Karyotaki E. Cognitive behavior therapy vs. control conditions, other psychotherapies, pharmacotherapies and combined treatment for depression: a comprehensive meta-analysis including 409 trials with 52,702 patients. World Psychiatry. 2023 Feb;22(1):105-115. doi: 10.1002/wps.21069. PMID: 36640411; PMCID: PMC9840507.