Behavior Therapy

Behavior therapy is focused on helping an individual understand how changing their behavior can lead to changes in how they are feeling. It is based on the assumption that emotional problems, like any behavior, are learned responses to the environment and can be unlearned



 Behavior therapy is based upon the principles of classical conditioning developed by Ivan Pavlov and operant conditioning developed by B. F. Skinner.







Pavlov was a Russian psychologist who explored one important form of learning in his classic experiments on conditioning dogs. He found that in the conditioned learning experiment of these dogs that a conditioned response decreases in excitement if the repetition is presented.

BF Skinner was a psychologist born in Pennsylvania. He earned graduated from Harvard and began working on ideas of human behavior. Skinner found that operant conditioning is based on rewards and punishments for different types of behaviors. Reinforcement and its positive and negative effects were his focus of study.






Key Concepts 

Behavior - Reverse behaviors and habits
Affect - Emotions, moods, strong feelings
Sensation - The five senses
Imagery - a client views themselves
Cognition - a clients ideas, judgments, or insights
Interpersonal relationships - how a client interacts with other people
Drugs - Drugs, prescription or not, any health issues or concerns a client may have



Below is a short video of Behavior therapy being used with a child 

                                            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbVG8lYEsNs


Goals and Techniques

The goals of behavior therapy is usually focused on increasing the person’s interactions with positive activities. This therapy is structured and carefully measures what the person is doing and then looks to increase their chances for positive experiences.

Common techniques include:

Self-Monitoring — The first stage of treatment is when the therapist asks the client to keep a daily log of their activities.
Schedule of Weekly Activities — This is where the patient and therapist work together to develop new activities that will provide the patient with chances for positive experience.
Role Playing —  New skills are developed through role play to help the client work through any issues that may pose a problem in the clients daily environment.
Behavior Modification —  Patients will receive a reward for interacting in a positive behavior.



Links and Resources

 http://www.picsearch.com/Ivan-Pavlov-pictures.html
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbVG8lYEsNs
 www.cengage.com