A four-session acceptance and commitment therapy based intervention for depressive symptoms delivered by masters degree level psychology students: a preliminary study.

Background:Depressive symptoms are one of the main reasons for seeking psychological help. Shorter interventions using briefly trained therapists could offer a solution to the ever-rising need for early and easily applicable psychological treatments.Aims:The current study examines the effectiveness of a four-session Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) based treatment for self-reported depressive symptoms administered by Masters level psychology students.Method:This paper reports the effectiveness of a brief intervention compared to a waiting list control (WLC) group. Participants were randomized into two groups: ACT (n= 28) and waiting list (n= 29). Long-term effects were examined using…