Online course

How to break the cycle of depression

Vital information about depression for everyone – includes new insights and research findings which dramatically improve recovery rates and reduce relapses

Course Factfile

How to break the cycle of depression online course

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Special offer

  • Price: £159 £127.20 per person

Price includes course notes and life-long access

Special Offer

£127.20

Despite being on the increase, depression is actually one of the easiest disorders to treat successfully and quickly – once you know how.

The best online depression training I've ever had

Mental Health Worker

Why take this course

CPD Provider LogoThis popular online depression course with psychologist Joe Griffin, a leading expert in the field (and co-founder of the human givens approach), shatters the many myths that still surround this distressing condition and how it should be treated. It gives you the new insights, information and research findings that have been quietly revolutionising the effective treatment of depression for well over a decade.

Literally thousands of people in the UK and Ireland have already been helped to recover from depression – often remarkably quickly – as a result of the new information taught on this course.

Among other things, you will discover: what really causes depression; why depressed people wake up tired and unmotivated; the link between worrying, dreaming and depression; why some forms of psychotherapy can actually be harmful when treating depression; why the appropriate type of psychotherapy has a dramatically lower rate of relapse than antidepressants and is also the most effective treatment – even with severe cases and postnatal depression.

For the sake of the millions of people affected by depression around the world (including rising numbers of children, young people and the elderly), this information needs to be much more widely known.

It doesn’t just transform lives – it saves them…

So much valuable information about depression – makes total sense

General Practitioner

What will you learn

  • Essential new information about why people become depressed
  • A better understanding of what depression really is, why it’s on the increase and how to diagnose it
  • Clear explanations of symptoms such as waking up tired and unmotivated
  • Practical help to quickly break patterns of depression, move people on and prevent relapse
  • New insights into the dissociative elements of depressive lifestyles
  • An important understanding of why some forms of psychotherapy can make depression worse
  • Techniques for tackling rigid thinking and negative expectancy
  • Why some people are more vulnerable to depression than others
  • How to make a positive difference straight away
  • Ways to talk to suicidal people – this training saves lives
  • The myths that have grown up around depression
  • How to manage bi-polar depression psychologically
  • The links between emotional arousal, REM sleep, dreaming and depression
  • How this discovery dramatically improves our ability to help people get out of depression quickly
  • The most effective strategies for successfully treating depression
  • The causes of postnatal depression and how best to treat it
  • How to help with excessive grief
  • Lots of case history examples which illustrate how these new insights combined with the most effective brief therapy techniques can help people recover as quickly as possible
  • Ways to ‘inoculate’ yourself against depression
  • Includes Course Notes
  • Accredited CPD certificate
Counts towards a Diploma

Counts towards a Diploma

By taking this course, you could be on your way to completing Part 1 of the Human Givens Diploma – a flexible, part-time psychotherapy course which will deepen your psychological knowledge and increase your ability to help people effectively and quickly.  Learn more >

Who is this course suitable for?

  • Anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of the causes and symptoms of depression, and why some people are more vulnerable than others
  • All health and welfare professionals ‒ if you have to deal with, treat or care for depressed people, the new insights on this course will make your work easier and more effective
  • Anyone concerned about the side effects of drug treatments who would like to know about the recent discoveries and easy-to-learn psychotherapeutic techniques that combined can lift depression quickly

What's included?

  • Videos
    19 Videos
  • 28 Quizzes
  • PDF Course notes
  • Lifetime access
    Life-long access
  • CPD Certificate
    CPD Certificate

Course format

‘How to break the cycle of depression’ is based on our previous one-day seminar of the same name. This online course is split into 4 modules, each of which are broken down further into different sections containing filmed lectures given in English by the tutor, Joe Griffin.

Each film clip is followed by a short series of multiple choice questions. These are designed to help you think about and absorb the course content and to check that you have understood the main points of that section before proceeding to the next.

There are also course notes for you to download, plus additional reading information and helpful links.

You can take as long as you like to work your way through the course and can view it as many times as you like.

Once you have completed the course, you will receive an Accredited CPD certificate, which counts towards the Human Givens Diploma.

CPD Provider Logo
This course has been independently assessed by the internationally recognised CPD Standards Office for 6 hours of CPD training.

Meet your tutor

Joe Griffin tutor profile picture

Joe Griffin

Joe Griffin is a psychologist with many years’ experience both in psychotherapeutic practice and in training psychotherapists.

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Reviews for this course

4.8/5 (26 Reviews)
  1. Kelly Hess, Mental Health Counselor

    I’m an early-career counselor in Texas, USA. None of the theories covered in my graduate education truly resonated with me; some of them seemed to contain an element of truth, but all felt incomplete and overly focused on one narrow aspect of the human experience. Having stumbled upon the human givens approach via YouTube, I read Human Givens: The New Approach to Emotional Health and Clear Thinking and was convinced I had finally found a theory that unifies the best of what we know about mental illness treatment, as well as adding a deeper and more scientific understanding of what causes it. I was then eager to take courses taught by Joe Griffin. I started with this course because I’m a specialist in depression and anxiety and want to offer my clients the most effective and time-efficient help I can.

    It’s hardly an exaggeration to say I was blown away by Dr. Griffin as a psychologist and teacher. His straightfoward, energetic style exactly suits the way I learn best. While I feel I’ve only brushed the surface of all there is to learn about human givens, I already have so much that will make me a more effective counselor. Next up: Understanding Anxiety.

  2. Jason Evans, university chaplain and hypnotherapist in private practice

    There are two things I really like and value about Human Givens courses: the sound scientific basis for the approach, but also the generous helping of common sense. This synthesis is simple, powerful and persuasive, and I would recommend this course to anyone in a helping role who might have to deal with people who are depressed

  3. Jaz, Training to become HG Practitioner

    By far the best, most thorough and most interesting Human Givens course I have completed.

    I would recommend this course to Everyone.

  4. Catherine Flynn, Counsellor

    I found the course really informative and it has influenced my private practice approach to depression and has given me the tools I need to support clients. I would have liked the course to have included ‘client handouts’ as the course teaches that knowledge is power, but the course doesn’t include handouts that can be given to clients to help them learn about the causes of depression. Additionally, I would have liked for there to have been more references in terms of evidencing information e.g. ‘less depression in amish community’ etc. I cannot share this information with clients without citing the original research on this.

  5. Marion McGeough, psychotherapist

    As a therapist who is seeing an increasing number of clients with depression, I have found the information gained from this course to be invaluable. I will be using the tools that this course has equipped me with next week! I look forward to my next HG course.

  6. Ingrid Steele, Coach and mediator

    Excellent course, really well delivered and such an advantage being able to replay to help embed the learning and knowledge. Thank you

  7. Patrick Lappin, Head of Alternative Education Provision

    I have just completed the ‘how to break the cycle of depression’ course and found it, just like the other HG courses I have attended/ completed, inspiring and hope building. It just sit so naturally with me and provides simple approaches to support healing and recovery. Thoroughly recommend it.

  8. Anu Verma, Business Manager

    Wow, I thoroughly enjoyed this course and have learnt so much that I never knew before about the causes of depression which is your emotional needs not being met and also how to overcome depression using guided imagery and other tools. The learning has helped me to address my symptoms. Thank you so much Joe, you are so knowledgeable and an inspiration to us all 🙂

  9. Gio, Marketing Consultant

    Excellent – Joe Griffin is so informative and engaging. I found the training fascinating and I learnt so much. I found Joe’s case examples really interesting and felt the questions at the end of each section really helpful. I volunteer at a charity befriending adults with suicidal thoughts and this training has been so invaluable! Thank you, Joe!

  10. Karen, Designer

    I really enjoyed this course, my first Human Givens experience. I have most of the books and find them so helpful in my work as a solution focused hypnotherapist. I am a huge fan of the Human Givens approach, it’s sensible, practical and logical and accessible – thank you!

  11. Armorel

    Excellent straightforward logical approach to depression with clear concise brief methods of treatment. As a doctor this will be extremely useful approach to use in practice. Need to do the guided imagery course next!

  12. Craig

    The online course was delivered in a very professional manner and I have found it very helpful to understanding the cycle and causes of depression.

  13. Lorraine

    This is packed full of information, clearly explained and great value for money.

  14. Carole

    I met Joe and Ivan many years ago, not long after Human Givens started their courses. I did this course then and very many others including the Rewind technique with them. I have found them invaluable as a counsellor, in my private practice and NHS work. I have always self funded and felt it was well invested. Since then Human Givens have gone from strength to strength, more power to them. I really enjoyed taking this course again in its updated and accessible form. I have found it really helpful to revisit it in this way, It was innovative to use the multiple choice questions in between Joe’s lectures. Good to test oneself and encouraged one to listen carefully for fear of getting the answers wrong!. The additional information and links really helpful. How can one not enjoy Joe’s inimitable and informal style of dialogue, giving a complex subject and the human condition clarity. Thank you

  15. David

    I left the online courses syllabus of the Diploma until last as I loath ‘online learning’ (previous experience has been work ‘online learning’ programs). But this experience of learning ‘online’ was transformational: it was easy to access, well presented, engaging, a systematic work through of the course material and tests of learning. Considering it was a way of learning I was not looking forward to, due to previous experiences of ‘online learning’, my opinion has dramatically changed. Well done HGs Excellent training.

  16. Síle Uí Chiaráin

    With a 1/10 chance that a man will experience depression and ¼ chance amongst the female population of same, this course considers not only the causes of depression in said individuals but also the components of the apparent immunity factor enjoyed by others. Whilst biology accounts for an element of ones predisposition to depression, this course teaches categorically that depression relates more to how one processes the stuff of life than ones exposure to challenging events and or situations in the course of one’s life. This course shares knowledge of the latest and most appropriate solution focused therapies, addressing both the interpersonal and the intrapersonal aspects of depression. Efficacy studies prove that these bio-psycho-social interventions can manage depression right out of clients’ lives if not for good, with reduced rates of relapse and I n the unfortunate event of same, with increased coping skills going forward, to better process the obvious adverse circumstances that we must all face in life Human Givens simplify the cycle of depression to a need for the cessation of worrying and sufficient knowledge of sleep hygiene allowing for normalised dreaming. The wealth of science based knowledge shared so succinctly and yet in such colourful detail on this course not least about the significance of REM in life in general and pivotally in relation to good mental health, or not if dream sequence is distorted for any number of reasons, is nothing short of life changing for aspirant therapists themselves and will therefore be so helpful in addressing the ever increasing epidemic of depression as Team Human Givens increases in number and releases their psycho magic into the field of psychology and psychotherapy. As so well validated in the course material, one’s attributional style determines whether the content of the stuff of life knocks you, or you can process it into perspective. The idea of learned helplessness and the evidence based efficacy of Human Givens approaches to the continuum of depressive disorders, as so valuably delivered in the course material and online lectures herewith, are encouraging and inspirational for me as an aspirant psychotherapist and as a human being in fact. The Human Givens approach to depression and to restoring and maintaining good mental health is fundamentally grounded in the organising idea that human beings have both needs and resources and, like all living entities that thrive, require these needs to be met and these resources to work effectively. I am more convinced than ever, having digested the content of this course that using Human Givens approaches and techniques to help clients access their fundamental needs, using their innate resources wisely and to the best of their ability that TheRise and Rise of Depression globally will be the Rise and Fall of Depression in Human Givens Clinics henceforth. You’ve got this!!!

  17. Patrick

    As always, Joe’s delivery of the subject was thorough, engaging and had the sprinkling of Griffin humour. Including the question times were also very useful. I feel more confident and better equipped to work with people who are suffering depression. Many thanks

  18. Felicity

    As always I enjoyed the course immensely, have written copious notes and feel that I have gained greatly in my knowledge. I look forward to being able to put the skills into practice in due course. I have a question though which is to do with the place of moral absolutes. Joe asked the audience whether a responsible man could do an irresponsible thing. “Yes” I said to myself, thinking of a scenario such as a responsible man leaving a pan on the stove, nipping into another room to check the football scores, getting distracted by them, forgetting the pan which leads to a burnt dinner, a kitchen full of smoke and a ruined pan. Irresponsible, easy to do but not a moral failing. However Joe went on to talk about a situation where a responsible man could irresponsibly have an affair. Granted, a responsible and moral man could be irresponsible and put himself in a compromising situation (drinking too much on a business trip for example) but to go on to have an affair is more than irresponsible, it is breaking a moral law. It can be described as “wrong” a “betrayal” the “breaking of a vow” religious people would name it a “sin.” These are different to merely irresponsible actions because they break a moral code whereas irresponsibility does not necessarily. This is a long paragraph to ask where does Human Givens stand on morality and moral absolutes? It is not advisable to have an affair because of the damage that it causes to all parties. But most people (including me) would say an affair is morally wrong. Thanks!

  19. Amanda

    It was hugely insightful – and I feel I have learned an awful lot from it, which I will definitely be using in my client-work at my practice.

  20. Carole

    I really enjoyed this course. I’ve been counselling for over 30 years and learnt such a lot. What I have learnt I have incorporated into my practice.

  21. Michael

    A really fantastic and new way to provide training, I have done many courses throughout my time but this one is approached in such a way it leaves you feeling refreshed and confident. I can’t wait to start more.

  22. Anne-Marie

    This course taught me more about what depression is and how to manage it than any other training I have undertaken, including as a mental health nurse. I have suffered from depression myself and went down the psychodynamic psychotherapy route to try to recover. Many years, lots of money. I wish I had known about Human Givens earlier!!

  23. Frank

    The lectures are excellent, but the questions on the tests are cryptic and have little to do with them. One is left unsure whether to pay more heed to the talks or the quizzes.

    • In reply to Frank – HG College

      Thanks for your useful feedback about the multiple choice questions – although some might seem unrelated to the lecture content, they are designed to help you think about and thoroughly absorb the information covered. We’re glad you found the films so helpful.

  24. Sally

    My understanding of what’s driving my partner’s depression has massively increased. Thank you Joe

  25. Tony

    I find the topic fascinating. I have many Service Users suffering with their poor mental health who need support with this issue in order to live independently. what you’ve covered on this course will be extremely helpful.

  26. Mike

    Listening to Joe talking about depression is so refreshing – it makes a lot of sense. Explains what causes depression symptoms and what we can do to help people recover. I wish more people knew about this it would make a huge difference to mental health provision – keep up the good work HG and I’ll spread the word wherever I can!

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