Abstract:

Behavioural activation is one of the front-line treatments for depression, but some users may find its rationale unpersuasive. Incorporating the notion of core emotional needs into the conceptualization and treatment of depression via behavioural activation could help address this limitation. Furthermore, early education and guidance regarding the various schema modes’ role in behavioural avoidance and engagement may increase users’ receptiveness to the model.  The proposed research aims to assess the acceptability, usability and early outcomes of a Schema Therapy-based self-help mobile application for depressive symptoms, nCompass. The goals of the mobile-based intervention are to help users become aware of their five categories of core needs (connection, identity and competence, healthy limits, expression of needs, spontaneity and fun), schedule and carry out meaningful activities matching the respective needs, as well as recognize and manage the modes involved in behavioural avoidance and engagement (Vulnerable Child, Critic, Detached Protector, Healthy Adult). During the presentation, Paula Stroian will present the principles underpinning the nCompass app, as well as demonstrate some of its features.

About the Presenters:                   

Paula Stroian:

Paula Stroian is a PhD student at Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Her research focuses on the role of early maladaptive schemas in depression and on the use of Schema Therapy techniques with depressed individuals. She is a teaching assistant at her university and is currently supervising a team of six undergraduate students from six European countries in carrying out cross-cultural research on the perceptions of mental health apps and on potential users’ views on incorporating core emotional needs in the e-treatment of depression, as part of the Junior Researcher Program of the European Federation of Psychology Students’ Associations. Paula Stroian is a licenced clinical psychologist and CBT therapist under supervision and also practices Schema Therapy under the supervision of professor David Edwards.

Daniel David:

Daniel David is an "Aaron T. Beck" professor of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy and Clinical Cognitive Science at Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania and the head of the International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health in Cluj-Napoca. Daniel David is also an adjunct professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York. Professor Daniel David has contributed to the assimilation of cognitive science principles in the clinical field and in particular to developing the theory and practice of rational-emotive and cognitivebehavioral therapies. He is the most cited Romanian psychologist internationally, according to the AdAstra Association of Researchers in Romania Professor David is certified as a psychotherapy trainer and supervisor by the Albert Ellis Institute and the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. He is the founding president of the Association of Cognitive and Behavioral Psychotherapies in Romania, a member association of the European Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies. At the international level, he is Romania’s representative in the International Association for Cognitive Psychotherapy.