Table 2 Session by session content in ADepT intervention

1

Assess the clients’ depression, review what is currently helping and not helping about how they are managing it, and introduce the ADepT rationale and structure.

Home activities: Read treatment rationale handout, watch ‘BlackDog’ video about living with depression, and complete mood diary

2

Review mood diary and reaction to rationale and video; identify values in vocational, relationship, self-care, and leisure domains; and introduce to ‘dartboard’ exercise. This involves rating how close to the ‘bullseye’ behaviour is to key values in each life domain.

Home activities: Read values handout, refine values, and complete mood diary

3

Review mood diary and values homework, set values consistent goals in each life domain using extended ‘dartboard’ exercise.

Home activities: Read goals handout, refine goals, and complete mood diary

4

Review mood diary and goals handout, use a goal planning and monitoring tool to break goals down into SMART action steps, and build the capability, opportunity and motivation to carry out each action step.

Home activities: Read goal planning and monitoring tool handout and use to address one goal, read handout about overcoming snags that block goal pursuit

5

Review use of goal planning and monitoring tool. Introduce to mapping tool, which formulates mechanisms that help/hinder resilience/thriving. This tool can be used to map out an ‘old me’ (depressive coping) and to develop a ‘new me’ (constructive coping) in a given situation. The ‘new me’ formulation will be utility based, focusing on what the goal is in a given situation and then what would be a way of thinking and behaving that would be most likely to bring this about.

Home activities: Use mapping tool to analyse one opportunity and one challenge in the next week

6

Review use of mapping tool. Introduce to positive diary keeping to capture moments of resilience and thriving. This intends to build a positive, specific memory, and attentional style.

Home activities: Read handout on positive diary, complete positive diary for next week

7

Introduce to mindful engagement with everyday wellbeing activities that enhance pleasure, meaning, and social connection.

Home activities: Read handout on everyday wellbeing activities, practice mindful engagement with everyday activities, and continue to complete action steps

8 to 12

Use above tools to work through action steps identified above and develop new ways of coping when engaging with opportunities and challenges (‘acting opposite’ to depressive mechanisms). This will consist of psychoeducation around mechanisms, skills training around alternative ways of coping, and conducting behavioural experiments to test out and refine these new ways of coping.

Home activities: Dependent on client goals and learning needs

13 to 15

Develop wellbeing plan to continue to build wellbeing in months after therapy. This can include reviewing goal progress and setting future goals on ‘dartboard’, reviewing key mechanisms helping/hindering resilience/thriving on formulation tool, reviewing key therapy techniques using a checklist, formulating a ‘relapse signature plan’ (early warning signs mood is dropping and steps that will be taken to minimise this), formulating a ‘wellbeing signature plan’ (early indicator signs mood is lifting and steps they will take to maximise this), and sustaining engagement with everyday wellbeing activities and ‘positive review’. If useful, a carer/partner can be invited into later ADepT sessions to share learning and support the client with ongoing change after acute therapy has completed.

Home activities: Read and complete wellbeing planning tools

16 to 20

Five optional booster sessions will then be offered over the year after therapy. These will be used to review progress with goals, celebrate success, and troubleshoot any difficulties.

Home activities: Dependent on client goals and learning needs