Behavioural Activation for Depression: The Essentials

Did you know depression is a leading cause of disability and often shows up alongside pain, sleep troubles, and other health challenges? The good news: not everyone with depression needs therapy or medication. For many, Behavioral Activation (BA)—a simple, evidence-based approach that any healthcare professional can deliver—is the key to breaking the cycle and recovering.

This course is tailor-made for psychologists, counselors, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, kinesiologists, and other healthcare pros ready to step up their game in depression management. BA doesn’t just tackle depression—it’s also a game-changer for improving mood, sleep, and pain, helping clients get back to the life they want to live.

By the end of this course, you’ll have a straightforward, practical toolkit filled with BA strategies you can start using immediately. Whether it’s guiding a client to better sleep habits, relieving pain, or lifting their mood, BA equips you to make a real difference in their recovery journey.

This course serves a primer for a full intensive here.

Duration


3 months access


Format

Videos
Articles
Case Study

Learners

All healthcare providers

Core Skill


Behavioural Activation

Your Instructor

Dr. Colleen Carney CPsych

Cost

$97

Behavioural Activation for Depression

Through engaging videos, concise readings, handy handouts, and a real-life case study, you’ll walk away with practical strategies you can use right away. Finish this course ready to help your patients take on pain, sleep struggles, and depression with confidence!

Course Lessons

Testimonials

What our learners say

If you’ve ever felt stuck helping patients who are caught in the cycle of physical pain and low mood, this course gives you tools that actually work. The Daily Activity Record and TRAP/TRAC framework were super practical and it's amazing to see how much of a difference they made for some of my patient's—not just in improving mood but in helping with pain too. Honestly, this course helped me level up.
The DAR and TRAP/TRAC tools are so simple and clear—they were easy to start using right away. The concise, no-fluff style made everything feel practical and doable. I used to feel pretty unequipped working with these patients, but now I actually get excited because I have an approach that can help with all of it. Highly recommend!

Dr. Colleen Carney Ph.D, CPsych  
Director, Sleep and Depression Laboratory

Meet your instructor
Dr. Colleen E. Carney is an Associate Professor and Director of the Sleep and Depression Laboratory at Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada. She is the current President of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), Insomnia and Other Sleep Disorders Special Interest Group.

Dr. Carney was previously on faculty at Duke University Medical Center, where she was a recipient of the prestigious National Sleep Foundation’s Pickwick Fellowship. Her main research areas are: how to best treat insomnia in the context of other mental health conditions and understanding comorbid insomnias.

As part of her clinical trial research, she and her students provide free Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for those with insomnia and other conditions. She trains students and mental health providers in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Insomnia at invited workshops, and international conferences each year, as well she helps practices implement CBT-I via intensive staff training and longterm consultation in varied treatment settings (e.g., primary, family care, mental health clinics).