Story perspectives

Positive Affect Therapy Slashes Depression, Anxiety, Outperforms Standard

5/12/2026

Summary

Story summary

Positive Affect Treatment, a 15-session psychotherapy targeting the brain’s reward system, was trialed.
In a randomized study of 98 adults led by Alicia E. Meuret, PAT outperformed conventional therapy.
Patients receiving PAT showed significant drops in depression and anxiety that lasted through a one-month follow-up.
These improvements correlated with altered reward/threat processing and were supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) award R61MH115138.

1 of 1

Story summary

Positive Affect Treatment, a 15-session psychotherapy targeting the brain’s reward system, was trialed.
In a randomized study of 98 adults led by Alicia E. Meuret, PAT outperformed conventional therapy.
Patients receiving PAT showed significant drops in depression and anxiety that lasted through a one-month follow-up.
These improvements correlated with altered reward/threat processing and were supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) award R61MH115138.