NES Psychology and Behavioural Activation

NES Psychology and Behavioural Activation

What is Behavioural Activation

Behavioural Activation is a structured, brief psychotherapeutic approach that is recommended for the treatment of depression (Scottish Government, 2011; SIGN, 2010; NICE, 2022). It is a goal-focussed therapy that encourages people to engage in rewarding activities rather than avoidance, withdrawal and inactivity. It was developed to be delivered as an individual intervention.

Behavioural Activation for groups

In the UK, Martell’s BA for Depression (BAD) has been adapted to be delivered in groups. Behavioural Activation in Groups has been developed to address the ongoing challenges of meeting patient need and the increasing demands on services.

NES Psychology supporting Behavioural Activation

NES Psychology is increasing access to psychological therapies and interventions by training multidisciplinary NHS staff, working in adult mental health, to deliver Behavioural Activation to people with depression.

NES support involves BA e-learning modules on TURAS Learn, attend interactive workshops and complete coaching sessions within their workplaces.

Between 2014 and 2024, 978 mental health professionals commenced the Behavioural Activation learning programme on TURAS with 832 completing the learning programme.  See graph below for more details on those numbers.

NES masterclasses

Over the past year NES have worked in partnership with international leaders Professors Christopher Martell and Carl Lejuez to bring a webinar and a Behavioural Activation masterclass to the community in Scotland.

Both have been well received with attendees providing positive feedback including that it was a: “Fantastic opportunity to hear from an expert in the field” and “Hearing from the author of BA added depth and nuance to the presentation of the model.”

Behavioural activation for adolescents

For practitioners working with adolescents, NES Psychology supports the role out of Brief Behavioural Activation (Pass & Reynolds, 2020).

Find more information on TURAS. And in the news article New support for depressed adolescents

More information

If you are interested in hearing more about Behavioural Activation, please contact psychology@nes.scot.nhs.uk

 

 

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