ABSTRACT
The cognitive model of depression mirrors the cognitive model of other psychopathologies. The cognitive model is a holistic model that recognises the importance of biological, psychological and social factors. The cognitive model is based on the concept that therapists' reactions and emotions to events are mediated by thoughts. Identifying and demonstrating these cognitive errors provides one of the tools for intervening therapeutically. The model suggests that people with depression have developed core beliefs or assumptions about their world or themselves that are inaccurate and unhelpful. The abnormality in depression is the inaccuracy or distortion of the client's thoughts. In depression, the dysfunctional assumptions are generally about loss of either social contacts or social standing, and are often associated with self-criticism and low self-esteem. Dysfunctional assumptions sometimes appear to be the same as commonly held beliefs; however they tend to differ in their intensity or extremeness.
