Researchers from the Ohio State University found that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can help job seekers find employment.

Depression makes it more difficult for some unemployed people to find work and makes it difficult for those with jobs to focus on their tasks. Researchers found that treatment helped significantly reduce these problems.Source: Unsplash

CBT teaches coping skills that help patients counteract and modify their negative beliefs about themselves. CBT works with the idea that people with depression hold overly negative views of themselves and their futures.

During the study, 126 people participated in a 16 week course of CBT at the Ohio State Depression Treatment and Research Clinic. Twenty-seven patients were looking for jobs at the beginning of treatment., and of these, 11 individuals, or 41%, found a job by the end of the 16 weeks. While this finding is promising, the team notes that they don’t know how many of these patients would have found jobs without treatment, so they cannot draw solid conclusions.

CBT had clear impact for those with jobs before they started treatment. These patients reported that their depression was hurting their job productivity. By the end of treatment, these patients reported that they were much more successful at concentrating and accomplishing job tasks.

One way that CBT had an effect was by reducing the patient's negative cognitive style and overly pessimistic ways. CBT helps patients overcome their negative views by teaching them that the experience of depression is not their fault and they can take steps to improve their situation.

This study was published in the journal Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.