Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression in Veterans and Military Servicemembers: Therapist Manual
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs · 2011 · 227 pages · For therapists learning or delivering CBT for depression
Read it at the official source
A U.S. government training manual, free to access. A few embedded assessment scales are third-party copyrighted material used with permission, so read it at the official source.
If the publisher link moves: archived copy
The VA's full protocol for delivering cognitive behavioral therapy to depressed veterans and service members, written by Amy Wenzel, Gregory Brown, and Bradley Karlin. It walks through CBT theory, case conceptualization, session structure, behavioral and cognitive strategies, and relapse prevention, with session-by-session guidance and reproducible clinical forms.
It anchors the VA's national CBT-D training program and works as a complete CBT for depression curriculum for any clinician, not just those treating veterans.
Run it with these materials
Thought records, cognitive distortions, and behavioral activation worksheets are the exact session tools this manual assigns, and the free PHQ-9 covers its progress monitoring.
This manual is a publication of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Therapy Resource is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, its publisher. The summary above is our own; always follow the manual itself and your clinical judgment. If you are in crisis, contact 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or call 911.