Behavior therapy is a type of psychotherapy that focuses on changing a person's behavior. Whereas cognitive psychotherapy considers how we think about ourselves and the world and psychodynamic psychotherapy integrates a person's childhood, dreams and unconscious emotional life, behavioral therapy is a pragmatic approach interested only in changing a specific behavior. Behavioral therapy has been effective in decreasing addictive behavior, increasing academic performance and decreasing children's tantrums. Since its introduction into American psychology in the 1900s, behavior therapy has remained one the most common forms of psychotherapy in the United States.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism developed as a pragmatic approach to psychotherapy in reaction to the sophisticated psychodynamic theories of the 1920s and 1930s. John B. Watson in his "Behaviorist's Manifesto" of 1913 declared that all other forms of psychology were "unscientific" and proposed that behaviorism was the only psychology that could claim to be a science. Watson criticized "depth" psychologies as unscientific because they were based on a concept called the "unconscious" that, he claimed, was not scientifically observable or measurable.
Therapeutic Practice
Behavioral therapy is largely built on two learning theories: associative learning and operant learning. Most of the therapeutic techniques used in behavioral therapy focus on the patient's overt behavior rather than the psychological "causes" of the behavior. According to Robert Bolles in his book "The History of Psychology," the founding behaviorists were less interested in the historical, social, emotional, or biological underpinnings of a behavior and more interested in simply changing a behavior.
Associative Learning
Associative learning, also known as classical conditioning, involves pairing a stimulus with a biological drive. For example, the response of salivation or puckering to the taste of a lemon is not learned; it is a organic response. However, puckering and salivating to the sight of a lemon are learned through experiencing the citric flavor of the lemon. In this way, the image of the lemon has caused a biological response through association. Alcohol addiction is often treated with taste aversion techniques, such as pairing alcohol with nausea. This is known as the "disulfiram effect" because the medication disulfiram increases sensitivity and discomfort with alcohol ingestion.
Operant Conditioning
Reward and punishment schedules may be used to change a behavior. Reward, known by behaviorists as "reinforcement," can increase a target behavior, whereas punishment can decrease a behavior. The "law of effect," described by Edward Thorndike, tells us that a behavior that is followed with a reward will increase and a behavior that is followed by a punishment will decrease. An example of this would be rewarding a well-behaved child with a treat.
Successful Populations
Because behavior modification therapy relies on operant and associative learning, it is normally very effective with populations with limited insight or cognitive abilities. Children, people with genetic disorders such as Down syndrome, mental retardation and brain damage and lower-functioning adults often have great success with behavior modification therapies. According to Dr. Gerald Corey, behavioral therapy has also been used successfully in populations with addiction disorders.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
In the 1980s, many behavioral therapists incorporated the newly emerging cognitive therapy with behaviorism. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, known as CBT, focuses on changing a person's thoughts and behaviors to achieve the patient's goals. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy has been one of the predominant forms of psychotherapy in America since the 1980s.
References
- "Contemporary Behavior Therapy"; Michael D. Spiegler, et al.; 2009
- "Behavior Therapy: Theories of Psychotherapy"; Martin M. Antony, et al.; 2011
- "Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy"; Gerald Corey; 2008
- "Psychology: An Exploration"; Saundra Ciccarelli, et al.; 2011
- "The Story of Psychology: A Thematic History"; Robert C. Bolles; 1993
- "A History of Psychology Main Currents in Psychological Thought"; Thomas H. Leahey; 1996
