Behavior, Cognitive, Group and Family

• Goal of Behavior Therapy

  Observable behavior change
• Behavior Therapy


  • Emphasis on empiricism
  • Defining problems behaviorally
  • Measuring change observably
• Empiricism


  Clinical psychologists should employ scientifically evaluable methods
• Scientific method applied by behavioral therapists

  1. Observing a phenomenon

  2. Developing hypotheses

  3. Testing the hypotheses

  4. Observing the outcome

  5. Revising the hypotheses
• Defining problems behaviorally


  Client behaviors are the problem, not symptoms of an underlying problem
• Measuring change observably


  Focus on overt behavior rather than covert mental processes
• Techniques based on classical conditioning

  1. Exposure therapy

  2. Systematic desensitization
• Techniques based on operant conditioning

  1. Contingency management

  2. Extinction

  3. Token economies

  4. Shaping

  5. Behavioral activation
• Alternatives to behavior therapy

  • Behavioral consultation
  • Parent training
  • Teacher training
• How well does behavior therapy work?
• Introspection


  Looking inside the mind and attaining an objective, accurate assessment of change
• Behavioral therapists reject introspection as a means of measuring change in therapy
• Behavioral therapists


  They emphasize external, environmental factors over internal personality traits as the cause of clients' problems
• Behavioral therapist's approach to client's problems

  1. Ask questions about observable aspects of the environment

  2. Identify events that precede unwanted behaviors

  3. Identify consequences that follow unwanted behaviors

  4. Identify settings and conditions where unwanted behaviors take place
• Classical conditioning


  A type of learning where a stimulus (e.g. bell) becomes associated with an outcome (e.g. food) and starts to evoke a response (e.g. salivation)
• Classical conditioning


  • It is a passive type of learning where the conditioning happens to the individual
  • Factors like generalization and discrimination can influence the conditioned response
• Operant conditioning


  A type of learning where the organism's behavior is shaped by its consequences
• Operant conditioning


  • It is a more active style of learning where the organism takes an action and pays attention to the outcome
  • Behavior is governed by contingencies or "if..., then..." statements
• Exposure therapy


  Repeatedly exposing the client to the feared stimulus to weaken the association between the stimulus and the fear response
• Exposure therapy


  • Can use imaginal or in vivo exposure
  • Can use gradual (graded) exposure or all-at-once (flooding) exposure
• Systematic desensitization


  Pairing the feared stimulus with a new response (usually relaxation) that is incompatible with anxiety
• Systematic desensitization


  1. Relaxation training

  2. Working through an anxiety hierarchy while in a relaxed state
• Systematic desensitization


  Relaxation training, then exposure to anxiety-producing stimulus paired with relaxation to inhibit anxiety
• Systematic desensitization


  1. Relaxation training

  2. Anxiety hierarchy exposure

  3. Exposure paired with relaxation
• Enzymes


  • They increase the rate of chemical reactions without themselves being consumed or permanently altered by the reaction
  • They increase reaction rates without altering the chemical equilibrium between reactants and products
• Assertiveness training


  Specific application of classical conditioning that targets clients' social anxieties
• Assertiveness training


  1. Direct instructions from therapist

  2. Modelling of effective assertive behaviors

  3. Client rehearsal and feedback

  4. Targeted homework assignments
• Assertiveness training includes elements of exposure therapy and may include elements of systematic desensitization
• Assertiveness training helps clients insist on appropriate service, ask someone out, request a raise, communicate effectively, or say no to unreasonable demands
• Contingency


  The "if...then..." statements that govern behavior
• Contingency management


  Changing the contingencies controlling behavior to change the behavior
• Reinforcement


  Any consequence that makes a behavior more likely to recur in the future
• Punishment


  Any consequence that makes a behavior less likely to recur in the future
• Positive reinforcement


  Adding a positive consequence
• Negative reinforcement


  Removing a negative consequence
• Positive punishment


  Adding a negative consequence
• Negative punishment


  Removing a positive consequence
• Positive reinforcement


  If Patty attended her classes without any verbal or physical outbursts, then she received a new magazine of her choice
• Negative reinforcement


  If Patty attended her classes without any outbursts, then her ankle restraints—necessary with the onset of her assaults—would be removed for the next day
• Positive punishment


  If Patty engaged in any type of outburst, then she would receive a 2-hour detention in a cell without magazines