Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) was developed in the 1960s. Over the last 50 years it has become one of the most widely used forms of psychotherapy.
The rapid and extensive adoption of CBT is largely the result of strong empirical support for its effectiveness when treating patients suffering from a wide range of mental disorders. In addition, CBT is a relatively short-term treatment that can be administered effectively to individuals, couples, families, or groups.
BC youth have been estimated to have a relatively high—15%—prevalence of mental health disorders.[1] Even more alarmingly, disease onset occurred before 18 years of age in 70% of Canadian adults living with mental illness.[2] Youth are among the most susceptible groups for mental health problems, yet are poorly equipped to recognize disorders and most likely to seek help from each other.[3]
Created over 25 years ago, the Kaiser Foundation aims to raise awareness and understanding of mental health and addiction and holds the National Mental Health and Addiction Awards each year to acknowledge and celebrate the hard work being done by individuals in these areas. This year, BC received three awards.
The February edition of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry focuses on Aboriginal mental health in Canada.
Dr Malcolm King, guest editor, writes “Mental health is, in some ways, the most important health issue for Aboriginal peoples in Canada, partly because it contributes both directly and indirectly to so much of the gap in health status, and perhaps even more importantly, because mental health issues are so neglected in our society, especially so for Aboriginal peoples.”
Recovery from addiction might be facilitated by using the Stages of Change model in conjunction with motivational interviewing. The patient and his or her addiction problem are viewed nonjudgmentally, and motivation is developed through the partnership of patient and support worker, rather than by assigning this task solely to the patient.
