Behavioral Therapy Information

By: Franchis Adam

Article:
Since its early 20th-century beginnings, behavioral therapy has
prided itself above all on being scientific. So avoiding such
unquantifiable as needs, wants, and motivation, together with
excursions into the unconscious and trans personal.


Instead it has concentrated on observing and analyzing
behavioral and cognitive functioning, diagnosing unproductive
ways of dealing with life, and instituting systematic changes to
improve outcomes. Therapists discuss methods and expectations
with clients; the clients' participation is negotiated, and
measures to monitor effectiveness are established. Techniques
used are practical and direct, including those listed below.

Counter Conditioning An undesirable response to a stimulus is
replaced by one newly elicited.

Desensitization The client is relaxed deeply, then gradually he
or she is exposed to an anxiety ­provoking situation.

Aversion Conditioning A stimulus that is attractive to the
client, but would lead to undesirable results, is paired with an
unpleasant event in order to break the pattern.

Role Playing The therapist demonstrates more effective behaviors
in the session. The client tries these out in real-life
situations.

Behavior Rehearsal The client copies the therapist's staged
rehearsal of a forthcoming situation that is expected to be
problematic.

Benefits

Behavioral therapy can be a useful treatment tool in an array of
mental illnesses and symptoms of mental illness that involve
maladaptive behavior, such as sub-stance abuse, aggressive
behavior, anger management, eating disorders, phobias, and
anxiety disorders. It is also used to treat organic disorders
such as incontinence and insomnia by changing the behaviors that
might be contributing to these disorders

Cognitive Therapy

This grew out of behavioral thinking in the 1960s and
concentrates on how people's experiences are governed by their
perceptions. For example, cognitive theory sees depression as
the result of sad thinking, rather than believing conversely
that sad thinking is the result of a state of depression.

Cognitive Restructuring Transforming a client's thinking
processes so as to influence behavior and emotions.

Rational-emotive Approach Replacing irrational beliefs with
rational ones.

Assumption of Responsibility Getting clients to accept that no
one else "makes" them think, feel, or do anything.

Unlike traditional psychotherapy and many other forms of
therapy, cognitive behavior therapy does not involve lengthy
time frames or extensive investigation into past life events.
Cognitive behavior therapy is a goal-oriented short-term
process, predominantly focused upon the present and future. Most
cognitive behavior therapy treatments range from a few weeks to
a few months in duration.

Cognitive behavior therapy therapists take an active role in the
treatment process, and the patient is usually expected to
complete types of "homework" exercises involving reinforcement
of positive patterns. Indeed, these "corrective experiences"
that occur outside of the therapy sessions are an important part
of treatment.

source: http://www.goarticles.com