Beating the Blues program summary by session

The "Beating the Blues - US" online program is divided into eight sessions. In each session, you build on the previous sessions and learn a new skill. The skills you learn will help you de-stress and combat negative thoughts and behaviors.

Each session includes up to five modules, and each module takes about 15 minutes. Try to complete one session per week - you can do it in just 15 minutes every other day.

There's homework - but just a little!

After each session, you'll answer questions and/or get a short homework assignment to practice using what you’ve learned. You can finish the program without doing the homework, but the program works best when you practice. The easiest way is to work on it for a few minutes every day.

Summaries of the sessions

Session 1

You're introduced to Beating the Blues, to "cognitive behavioral therapy" (CBT) and to basic information about anxiety and depression. Videos introduce the characters in the program.

Session 2

Time to set a personal goal for what you want to work on while using Beating the Blues. You are introduced to the ABC model, which shows how thoughts and behaviors can influence your mood. You learn about automatic thoughts.

Session 3

Learn about common types of thinking distortions, which can make anxiety and depression worse.

Session 4

Learn four techniques that can help challenge distorted thinking. These techniques also show you how to replace negative thoughts with more helpful thoughts.

Session 5

Learn to recognize common mistakes that people make when challenging their thoughts and how to overcome these mistakes. You also learn what inner beliefs are and how to access them. For people who are dealing with anxiety or depression, it's very common for inner beliefs to be negative.

Session 6

You'll continue to work on your inner beliefs. Learn how to collect evidence against them and develop more helpful versions of them. Learn about "attributional style" and how it impacts your mood and well-being. You'll also learn a new behavioral technique.

Session 7

You continue working with attributional styles. Check your attributional style to see if it's making your depression or anxiety worse. If it is, you can learn ways to modify it to improve your confidence.

Session 8

A quick review all of the techniques that you've learned. Finally, time to check your progress on the goal you set at the beginning of the program. How did you do?