Behavioral Therapies
Behavioral therapies are a type of psychological treatment that focuses on changing maladaptive behaviors through techniques such as conditioning, reinforcement, and modeling. These therapies are based on the principles of learning theory and emphasize the role of environmental factors in shaping behavior. They are often used to treat various mental health conditions, including anxiety disorders, phobias, and substance abuse.
8 Key excerpts on "Behavioral Therapies"
- Howard E. A. Tinsley, Suzanne H. Lease, Noelle S. Giffin Wiersma(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
...Chapter 6 Behavior Modification Joseph J. Pear Heather D. Simister University of Manitoba Abstract With roots in basic principles of behavior, behavior modification comprises two branches or approaches to therapy: applied behavior analysis and behavior therapy. Applied behavior analysis focuses on working with individuals in natural settings using stimulus control and reinforcement to modify habitual behaviors and develop skills that help individuals function effectively in society and cope with various life situations. Applied behavior analysis also stresses the use of functional analysis of behavior to develop treatments. Behavior therapy focuses on dysfunctional behavior that often brings clients in for counseling or therapy. Behavior therapy techniques include exposure therapy to treat phobias and anxiety; behavioral activation therapy to treat depression, obesity, and other disorders; and acceptance- and mindfulness-based approaches to treat a variety of disorders. These current behavioral treatments are often used in conjunction with cognitive strategies. A strong understanding of behavior principles and the ability to apply them across numerous settings are key for any applied behavior analyst and behavior therapist practicing today. Key words acceptance and commitment therapy, applied behavior analysis, behavior principles, cognitive behavior therapy, exposure, learning, relaxation Introduction Most theoretical approaches to counseling and psychotherapy grew out of the experiences of insight therapists who struggled to understand the results they were observing in therapy and the theoretical mechanisms underlying those results. Over time, in conjunction with basic research findings, applied researchers began to undertake controlled scientific investigations of behavior change...
eBook - ePub- Sue Cave(Author)
- 2002(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...4 Behavioural therapies General principles Behaviour therapies Behaviour modification techniques Applicability and evaluation General principles Formation of behaviour disorders Behavioural therapies are based on the assumption that mental disorders are maladaptive behaviours which have resulted from faulty learning. The case of Little Albert, given in Chapter 1, provides an example of the way that phobias may be learnt. The solution is therefore to unlearn the behaviours. Learning occurs through either association (classical conditioning) or through reinforcement (operant conditioning), and the therapies based on these are known as behaviour therapy and behaviour modification respectively. In both cases the focus is on the individual’s present symptoms, not the historical causes of the problem. Before we can explore the different types of therapy that have utilised these principles, it is essential to outline what is involved in the two types of conditioning. Note that in both cases what is being produced is learning, which can be defined as ‘a relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience’. This definition excludes behaviours that are the result of physical changes, either temporary states such as those induced by drugs, or permanent states such as those resulting from accidents (e.g. amputations). Classical conditioning procedures have been derived from Pavlov’s studies of salivation in dogs in 1927. These showed that if a bell was rung just before food was presented, dogs would learn to salivate to the bell alone after a series of such trials. The reflex response of salivation had become associated with a new stimulus, i.e. the bell...
- Edward S. Neukrug(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
...David Donnelly David Donnelly Donnelly, David Behavior Therapies: Overview Behavior therapies: overview 93 98 Behavior Therapies: Overview Behavior therapy is an umbrella term used to identify a broad array of therapeutic techniques that have in common at least a partial basis in the classical conditioning learning theory of Ivan Pavlov, the operant learning of E. L. Thorndike and B. F. Skinner, or both. While the focus on internal cognitive or emotional events may vary as a function of the specific behavioral therapy being considered, commonalities include the reliance on objective and observable data to monitor therapy fidelity and effectiveness and a conceptual reliance on changed behavior as the outcome focus of treatment. Within this framework, these approaches to therapy can range from the complete reliance of applied behavior analysis on environmental manipulation and rejection of mentalistic interpretation (which is in stark contrast with humanistic, insight, or existential theoretical approaches) to blended techniques that incorporate aspects of cognitive or insight therapy while also maintaining aspects of their behavioral roots. Historical Context The concept of behavior therapy was, in part, an outgrowth and adaptation of the Pavlovian or classical conditioning and behaviorist laboratory studies of learning, as well as of the work of defectors from the ranks of clinical psychology and psychiatry. In the aftermath of the Second World War, psychoanalysis became the dominant approach to psychotherapy in the United States and many Western countries. Not all practitioners were satisfied with the results of Freudian and neo-Freudian psychoanalysis, however. In England in the early 1950s, for example, Hans Eysenk published pointed criticisms regarding the lack of observable benefit from psychoanalysis and argued for an empirically based treatment approach...
- John Sommers-Flanagan, Rita Sommers-Flanagan(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
...CHAPTER 7 Learning About Behavioral Therapy Approaches Behavioral theory and therapy is one of the most straightforward and concrete approaches available to providing mental health treatment. From its inception, it’s been praised by some practitioners and vilified by others. It has been vilified as an insensitive method designed to control others and, in essence, treat them by using the same principles as are used for training animals. But modern behavior therapy is applied humanely. In particular, when applied to adults, behavior therapy is much more about self-control than it is about controlling others. Behavior therapy allows clients to manage their own behaviors in ways they choose themselves. And behavior therapists are warm and kind and interested in the welfare of their clients. Getting Ready Before reading further, take a few minutes to complete the Behavioral Theory and Therapy Beliefs Pretest. Behavioral Theory and Therapy Beliefs Pretest This pretest is designed to assess how consistent your current beliefs about human problems, therapy process, and therapy interventions are with behavioral theory and practice. Read and briefly reflect on the following statements and then circle the number that best represents how much you agree or disagree with each statement. 1. Therapy interventions should be based on solid scientific evidence (i.e., laboratory experimentation). 2. Using the scientific principles of learning, therapists can powerfully shape human behavior. 3. There are two main methods of removing or eliminating fear responses. These include: counter conditioning the fear with a positive response and social reinforcement or participant modeling. 4. Adaptive and maladaptive human behaviors are acquired and maintained in the same way: through learning. 5...
eBook - ePubFoundations of Counseling and Psychotherapy
Evidence-Based Practices for a Diverse Society
- David Sue, Diane M. Sue(Authors)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
...Chapter 11 Cognitive-Behavioral Theory and Techniques My approach to psychotherapy is behavioral, such that I conceptualize the development and maintenance of behaviors according to learning theory (operant conditioning, classical conditioning, etc.). I view the context in which the behavior occurs as critical to accurate conceptualizations and change…. My interventions pull from empirically-supported treatments and principles that are targeted to my behavioral formulations … (Wagner, 2005, p. 101) C ognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), now advocated by many in the mental health profession, is rapidly becoming the treatment of choice for many disorders. For example, when 85 psychiatric residents were surveyed regarding therapeutic practices, nearly all rated CBT as “clinically useful,” 99 percent anticipated using it in future practice, and all were aware of the research evidence favoring CBT (Cassidy, 2004). For the profession of psychiatry, this shift in favor of cognitive-behavioral approaches is dramatic because psychiatry has traditionally been influenced much more by psychodynamic theories. The increasing emphasis within the mental health profession toward evidence-based practice and the requirement of managed care for short-term treatments with specific goals and interventions has resulted in growing awareness and use of cognitive-Behavioral Therapies. The clinician quoted above clearly bases her approach on learning theory and interventions that are empirically supported. In fact, the vast majority of empirically supported psychological interventions are some variant of the cognitive-behavioral approach. Although some differences exist within the different cognitive-Behavioral Therapies, they are similar in that they extol the virtues of the scientific method and research evidence. Many of the principles and constructs underlying CBT are derived from experimental research...
eBook - ePubSelective Mutism (Psychology Revivals)
Implications for Research and Treatment
- Thomas R. Kratochwill(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Psychology Press(Publisher)
...Contemporary conceptualizations of behavior therapy include applied behavior analysis, the neobehavioristic mediational S-R model, social learning theory, and cognitive behavior modification. This means that assessment and treatment procedures encompass a wide range of techniques. Yet despite this apparent diversity, some general features characterize the field. These include a focus on current rather than historical influence on behavior, an emphasis on overt behavior change to evaluate treatment outcomes, objective specification of the presenting problem, reliance on basic research to develop treatment procedures, and specificity in defining, treating, and measuring problem behaviors....
eBook - ePubThe Practice of Psychotherapy (Psychology Revivals)
506 Questions and Answers
- Lewis R. Wolberg(Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...IV. Behavior Therapy (Behavior Modification) Modern clinical and experimental research has contributed to the sophistication of behavioral interventions and has extended their usefulness for dealing with many syndromes, ranging from adjustment and habit disorders, to neurotic symptomatology (e.g., phobias, obsessions, compulsions, and depressions), to problems of retardates and psychotics. Questions continue to be asked about the utilities and dangers of behavior therapy, many based on misconceptions, for example, the ideas that the method is too authoritarian, coercive, controlling and punitive; that behavior therapists avoid history-taking and extensive data-gathering; that symptom removal often results in symptom substitution or in only temporary benefits; and that the therapist-patient relationship is not considered to be too important. Accusations are still levied at behavior therapists to the effect that they disregard inner nonmeasurable aspects of experience like feelings and fantasies, and even that some therapists are so tied to a simple stimulus-response ideology that they consider the human brain “an irrelevant and unnecessary intervening variable.” These ideas are largely erroneous, and contribute to the existing climate of misunderstanding. Although analysts and behavior therapists are becoming more tolerant of each other’s ideas, there is still a good deal of distance and distrust between them which, hopefully, time and constructive dialogue will resolve. Q74: Can a dynamically oriented psychotherapist utilize some of the techniques of behavior therapy? A74: Yes, especially during the phase of treatment where we desire to translate insight into action. The patient’s psychological responses to behavioral techniques may be studied and dreams examined for unconscious conflicts and transference manifestations...
eBook - ePubCore Competencies in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Becoming a Highly Effective and Competent Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist
- Cory F. Newman(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...242). The chapters that follow will focus on such important factors as the therapeutic relationship, and case conceptualization. KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER • CBT as practiced today is an evidence-based hybrid of behavior therapy, social-learning theory, and cognitive psychology. Though there are many variants of CBT that emphasize their own special points of focus, they share robust, common empirical principles. • From a CBT perspective, psychological wellness is comprised of a number of characteristics and capabilities, including a person’s possessing: (1) a broad behavioral repertoire that can be used effectively to solve problems, to relate well to others, and to respond in differential ways that will be positively reinforced across many different situations; (2) cognitive flexibility, objectivity, astute observational skills, and hopefulness, along with a sense of self-efficacy; and (3) good emotional self-regulation, while still possessing an appropriate range of affect and a capacity for joy. • Categories of problematic behavioral patterns that CBT clinicians assess and target include clients’ behavioral deficits, undercontrolled behaviors, overcontrolled behaviors, over-generalized behaviors, and difficult-to-extinguish behaviors. • The three main “levels” of clients’ thinking that CBT clinicians assess and modify include (in “descending” order) automatic thoughts, intermediate beliefs, and schemas. Negative schemas represent fundamental viewpoints of the self, the world, and the future that adversely affect clients across many aspects of their functioning...
