Social Skills Training Approaches

Abstract

In this chapter we outline the application of social skills training approaches to the treatment of nonpsychotic unipolar depressive disorder. Social skills training is a collection of techniques including instructions, modeling, behavior rehearsal, corrective feedback, social reinforcement, and selected cognitive restructuring techniques that have been effectively utilized to modify the social behavior of clients with a broad range of interpersonal difficulties. Social skills training has been applied to the treatment of persons suffering from major depressive episodes, and preliminary results suggests that it may be as effective in remediating depressive symptoms as some pharmacologically based treatment approaches (Bellack, Her-sen, & Himmelhoch, 1983; Hersen, Bellack, Himmelhoch, & Thase, 1984). At the Mood Disorders Clinic of Albany Medical College, we are currently engaged in a study of the effectiveness of social skills training and antidepressant medication for the treatment of chronic intermittent depressive disorder. In addition to cognitive therapy (see Chapter 7, this volume), social skills training may represent a viable alternative to drug treatment for some depressed individuals.