Self-Control Therapy

Description of the Strategy

Self-control therapies are strategies for teaching people skills and techniques for controlling their own behavior when striving to achieve long-term goals. It is usually assumed that people employ self-control strategies implicitly in their efforts to change behavior, such as when starting a diet or exercise program or attempting to quit smoking. Self-control therapies attempt to teach these strategies in an explicit way. A number of self-control models are used as the basis for self-control theories. One example is the selfmanagement therapy (SMT) program for depression developed by the author.

SMT is a structured, manualized, cognitive-behavioral group therapy program for the treatment of depression. The program is currently presented in 14 weekly, 1 1/2-hour sessions. Each session includes a didactic ...