THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COGNITIVE THERAPY TAILORED TO DEPRESSIVES WITH PERSONALITY-DISORDERS

A series of nine case studies with repeated measures were conducted to examine the effectiveness of various modifications of cognitive thera py for depressed persons with different personality disorders. Beck, R ush, Shaw, and Emery's (1979) framework for the cognitive therapy of d epression was used as a general structure for treatment, incorporating the strategies and techniques suggested by Beck, Freeman, and associa tes (1990) for various personality disorders. In general, cognitive th erapy was more effective for alleviating symptoms of depression than o f the primary personality disorder. The present study provides some em pirical support for the utility of cognitive therapy of comorbid depre ssion and personality disorder, and for the orthogonal hypothesis that depression and personality disorders independently respond to treatme nt; and it forms a basis for further investigations of this therapeuti c strategy.