BEHAVIORAL APPROACH

Behavioral Approach

As the name implies, this approach focuses on behavior - changing unwanted behaviors through rewards, reinforcements, and desensitization.

It works well for compulsive and obsessive behavior, fears, phobias and addictions.

Behavioral therapy often involves the cooperation of others, especially family and close friends, to reinforce a desired behavior.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The behavioral approach had its origin in the 1950s and early 1960s, and itwas a radical departure from the dominant psychoanalytic perspective.

The behavior therapy movement differed from other therapeutic approaches in it application of principles of classical and operant conditioning (which will be explained shortly) to the treatment of a variety of problem behaviors.

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

A key figure in this area is Ivan Pavlov who illustrated classical conditioning through experiments with dogs. Placing food in a dogs mouth leads to salivation, which is respondent behavior. When food is repeatedly presented with some originally neutral stimulus (something that does not elicit a particular response), such as the sound of a bell, the dog will eventually salivate to the sound of the bell alone.

OPERANTCONDITIONING

involves a type of learning in which behaviors are influenced mainly by the consequences that follow them. If the environmental changes brought about by the behavior are reinforcing—that is, if they provide some reward to the organism or eliminate aversive stimuli—the chances are increased that the behavior will occur again.

Basic Philosophy:

Behavior is the product of learning. We are both the product and the producer of the environment.

Key Concepts:

Focus is on overt behavior, precision in specifying goals of treatment, development of specific treatment plans, and objective evaluation of therapy outcomes. Therapy is based on the principles of learning theory.

Role of the Counselor:

Counselors using social learning may model the desired behavior, while respondent and operant conditioning counselors are more directive and prescriptive in their approach to the therapy goals. Use of tests and diagnosis varied greatly among behavioral counselors.

Goals of Therapy:

To focus on factors influencing behavior and find what can be done about problematic behavior. Clients have an active role in setting treatment goals and evaluating how well these goals are being met.

Therapeutic Relationship:

The main techniques are systematic desensitization, relaxation methods, flooding, eye movement and desensitization reprocessing, reinforcement techniques, modeling, cognitive restructuring, assertion and social skills training, self-management programs, behavioral rehearsal, coaching, and various multimodal therapy techniques.

Applications:

A pragmatic approach based on empirical validation of results. Enjoys wide applicability to individual, group, marital and family counseling. Some problems to which the approach is well suited are phobic disorders, depression, sexual disorders, children’s behavioral disorders, stuttering, and prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Multiculturalism:

Strengths include a collaborative relationship between counselor and client in working toward mutually agreed-on goals, continual assessment to determine if the techniques are suited to clients unique situation, assisting clients in learning practical skills, an educational focus, and stress on self-management strategies.

Contributions:

Emphasis is on assessment and evaluation techniques, thus providing a basis for accountable practice. Specific problems are identified, and clients are kept informed about progress toward their goals. The approach has undergone extensive expansion, and research literature abounds. No longer is it a mechanistic approach, for it now makes room for cognitive factors and encourages self-directed programs for behavioral change.

Current Trend in Behavior Therapy

Behavior therapy aims to increase people’s skills so that they have more options for responding. By overcoming debilitating behaviors that restrict choices, people are freer to select from possibilities that were not available to them earlier, which increases individual freedom.

Operant Conditioning Techniques pt.1

Behaviorists believe we respond in predictable ways because of the gains we experience (positive reinforcement) or because of the need to escape or avoid unpleasant consequences (negative reinforcement).

The goal of reinforcement, whether positive or negative, is to increase the target behavior.

Positive reinforcement involves the addition of something of value to the individual (such as praise, attention, money, or food) as a consequence of certain behavior.

The stimulus that follows the behavior is the positive reinforcer.

Negative reinforcement involves the escape from or the avoidance of aversive (unpleasant) stimuli. The individual is motivated to exhibit a desired behavior to avoid the unpleasant condition.

Another operant method of changing behavior is extinction, which refers to withholding reinforcement from a previously reinforced response.

Operant Conditioning Techniques

Another way behavior is controlled is through punishment, sometimes referred to as aversive control, in which the consequences of a certain behavior result in a decrease of that behavior.

In positive punishment an aversive stimulus is added after the behavior to decrease the frequency of a behavior (such as a time- out procedure with a child who is displaying misbehavior).

In negative punishment a reinforcing stimulus is removed following the behavior to decrease the frequency of a target behavior (such as deducting money from a worker’s salary for missing time at work, or taking television time away from a child for misbehavior).