PSYC 153 Week 8: Behavioral, Cognitive, & Mindfulness-Based Therapies

Behavior therapy

The clinical application of behavioral principles, focusing on the processes that maintain problematic behavior rather than what originally caused it.

Primary goal (Behavioral)

To replace maladaptive behavior with new, more adaptive behavior through the appropriate application of learning principles.

Baseline

The starting point or assessment of behavior frequency before treatment begins.

Classical conditioning

A passive and involuntary style of learning where a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that naturally triggers a response.

Operant Conditioning

An active style of learning by which the law of effect influences behavior through consequences.

Law of effect

The principle that all organisms pay attention to the consequences of their actions; behaviors followed by positive outcomes are more likely to recur.

Contingencies

The 'If..., then...' relationships between behaviors and their following consequences.

Exposure therapy

A technique involving repeated 'facing of fears' by exposing the client to a problematic stimulus without the feared outcome occurring.

Anxiety hierarchy

A 'fear ladder' where anxiety-producing experiences are listed and ranked from least to most provocative.

Subjective units of distress (SUDs)

Numeric rankings, usually from 0-100, used to rate the intensity of anxiety in a hierarchy.

In vivo exposure

Exposure to a feared stimulus that occurs in real-life settings.

Imaginal exposure

Exposure to a feared stimulus that occurs through mental visualization.

Exposure and response prevention

Gradual exposure to obsessive or anxious thoughts while simultaneously preventing the client's typical problematic response.

Systematic desensitization

Exposure to anxiety-provoking stimuli paired with re-pairing or counterconditioning the feared object with a response incompatible with anxiety.

Counterconditioning

The process of re-pairing a feared object with a new response that replaces and blocks the original fear response.

Relaxation training

Techniques where various muscles are systematically tensed and relaxed to achieve a state incompatible with anxiety.

Positive Reinforcement

Increasing a target behavior by adding something desirable.

Negative Reinforcement

Increasing a target behavior by taking away something aversive.

Positive Punishment

Decreasing a behavior by adding an aversive stimulus.

Negative Punishment

Decreasing a behavior by removing a desirable stimulus.

Contingency management

Changing the consequences of a behavior in order to shape the behavior itself.

Applied behavioral analysis (ABA)

A reinforcement-heavy approach used primarily for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Token economy

A setting where clients earn tokens for completing predetermined target behaviors, which can later be traded for rewards.

Behavioral activation

A treatment for depression based on the idea that depressed individuals experience a shortage of positive reinforcement in their daily lives.

Cognitive therapy

A brief, structured, and targeted approach that focuses on important mental processes.

Cognitions

Thoughts, beliefs, interpretations, assumptions, and internal mental processes.

Primary goal (Cognitive)

To ensure that a client's thoughts and cognitions correspond accurately to the event itself.

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)

Albert Ellis's approach emphasizing that interpretations of events, rather than the events themselves, cause behavior.

ABCDE Model

A restructuring tool: (A)ctivating events, (B)eliefs, (C)onsequences, (D)ispute belief, and (E)ffective new belief.

Automatic thoughts

Immediate interpretations of events that occur before a person is fully aware of them.

Cognitive distortions

Common thinking errors or irrational thoughts that shape how a person sees the world and themselves.

Schemas

Underlying beliefs or templates that serve as rules for information processing.

Catastrophizing

A distortion involving seeing only the worst possible outcomes of a situation.

Magnification and minimization

Exaggerating or minimizing the importance of events.

Overgeneralization

Making broad interpretations based on a single or very few events.

Magical thinking

The belief that thoughts or emotions can influence unrelated external situations.

Personalization

The belief that one is responsible for events outside of their control.

Mind reading

Interpreting the thoughts and beliefs of others without adequate evidence.

Fortune telling

The expectation that a situation will turn out badly without adequate evidence.

Emotional reasoning

The assumption that emotions accurately reflect the way things really are.

Disqualifying the positive

Recognizing only negative aspects of a situation while ignoring positive evidence.

'Should' statements

The belief that things must or should be a certain way.

All-or-nothing thinking

Thinking in absolute terms such as 'always,' 'never,' or 'every.'

Mindfulness

A practice promoting full engagement with one's internal mental processes in a nonconfrontational, present-focused way.

Acceptance

The ability to be mindful and aware of internal experiences without trying to avoid them.

Experiential avoidance

The act of avoiding internal experiences; the fundamental opposite of mindfulness.

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)

Facing internal fears and committing to personal values through action.

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)

The treatment of choice for borderline personality disorder, focusing on emotional dysregulation.

DBT Modules

The four skill training categories: Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Distress Tolerance, and Interpersonal Effectiveness.