BEHAVIOR THERAPY

  (1904-1990)

KEY CONCEPTS

• Focus is on overt behavior, precision in specifying goals of treatment, development of specific treatment plans, and objective evaluation of therapy outcomes.
• Present behavior is given attention.
• Therapy is based on principles of learning theory.
• Normal behavior is learned through reinforcement and imitation.
• Abnormal behavior is the result of faulty learning. (Corey,2009)

GOALS OF THERAPY

• To eliminate maladaptive behaviors and learn more effective behaviors.
• To identify factors that influence behavior and find out what can be done about problematic behavior.
• To encourage clients to take an active and collaborative role in clearly setting treatment goals and evaluating how well these goals are being met. (Corey,2009)

TECHNIQUES

• Reinforcement, shaping, modeling, systematic desensitization, relaxation methods, flooding, eye movement and desensitization reprocessing, cognitive restructuring, assertion and social skills training, self-management programs, mindfulness and acceptance methods, behavioral rehearsal, coaching, and various multimodal therapy techniques.
• Diagnosis or assessment is done at the onset to determine a treatment plan.
• Questions concentrate on "what", "how", and "when" (but not "why").
• Contracts and homework assignments are also typically used. (Corey,2009)

FOUNDERS

• B.F. Skinner 1904-1990
• Albert Bandura 1952
• Arnold A. Lazarus 1932 (Corey,2009)

Corey, G. (2009). Theory and practice of counseling and psycotherapy. Fullerton: Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning.