behavior therapy<\/h3>\r\n
In behavior therapy<\/span>, a therapist employs principles of learning to help clients change undesirable behaviors\u2014rather than digging deeply into one\u2019s unconscious. Therapists with this orientation believe that dysfunctional behaviors, like phobias and bedwetting, can be changed by teaching clients new, more constructive behaviors.<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n Behavior therapy employs both classical and operant conditioning techniques to change behavior.<\/p>\r\n One type of behavior therapy utilizes classical conditioning techniques. Therapists using these techniques believe that dysfunctional behaviors are conditioned responses. Applying the conditioning principles developed by Ivan Pavlov, these therapists seek to recondition their clients and thus change their behavior.<\/p>\r\n For example: Emmie is eight years old, and frequently wets her bed at night. She\u2019s been invited to several sleepovers, but she won\u2019t go because of her problem. Using a type of conditioning therapy, Emmie begins to sleep on a liquid-sensitive bed pad that is hooked to an alarm. When moisture touches the pad, it sets off the alarm, waking up Emmie. When this process is repeated enough times, Emmie develops an association between urinary relaxation and waking up, and this stops the bedwetting. Emmie has now gone three weeks without wetting her bed and is looking forward to her first sleepover this weekend.<\/p>\r\n One commonly used classical conditioning therapeutic technique is\u00a0counterconditioning.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Counterconditioning <\/strong>is when a client learns a new response to a stimulus that has previously elicited an undesirable behavior.<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n Two counterconditioning techniques are aversive conditioning and exposure therapy.<\/p>\r\n Aversive conditioning<\/span> uses an unpleasant stimulus to stop an undesirable behavior. Therapists apply this technique to eliminate addictive behaviors, such as smoking, nail-biting, and drinking. In aversion therapy, clients will typically engage in a specific behavior (such as nail biting) and at the same time are exposed to something unpleasant, such as a mild electric shock or a bad taste. After repeated associations between the unpleasant stimulus and the behavior, the client can learn to stop the unwanted behavior.<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n Aversion therapy has been used effectively for years in the treatment of alcoholism (Davidson, 1974; Elkins, 1991; Streeton & Whelan, 2001). One common way this occurs is through a chemically based substance known as Antabuse. When a person takes Antabuse and then consumes alcohol, uncomfortable side effects result including nausea, vomiting, increased heart rate, heart palpitations, severe headache, and shortness of breath. Antabuse is repeatedly paired with alcohol until the client associates alcohol with unpleasant feelings, which decreases the client\u2019s desire to consume alcohol. Antabuse creates a conditioned aversion to alcohol because it replaces the original pleasure response with an unpleasant one.<\/p>\r\n In\u00a0exposure therapy<\/span>, a therapist seeks to treat clients\u2019 fears or anxiety by presenting them with the object or situation that causes their problem, with the idea that they will eventually get used to it. This can be done via reality, imagination, or virtual reality.<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n Exposure therapy was first reported in 1924 by Mary Cover Jones, who is considered the mother of behavior therapy. Jones worked with a boy named Peter who was afraid of rabbits. Her goal was to replace Peter\u2019s fear of rabbits with a conditioned response of relaxation, which is a response that is incompatible with fear. How did she do it? Jones began by placing a caged rabbit on the other side of a room with Peter while he ate his afternoon snack. Over the course of several days, Jones moved the rabbit closer and closer to where Peter was seated with his snack. After two months of being exposed to the rabbit while relaxing with his snack, Peter was able to hold the rabbit and pet it while eating (Jones, 1924).<\/p>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_6604\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"521\"] Thirty years later, Joseph Wolpe (1958) refined Jones\u2019s techniques, giving us the behavior therapy technique of exposure therapy that is used today. A popular form of exposure therapy is\u00a0systematic desensitization<\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n In systematic desensitization<\/strong>, a calm and pleasant state is gradually associated with increasing levels of anxiety-inducing stimuli. The idea is that you can\u2019t be nervous and relaxed at the same time. Therefore, if you can learn to relax when you are facing environmental stimuli that make you nervous or fearful, you can eventually eliminate your unwanted fear response (Wolpe, 1958).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n How does exposure therapy work? Jayden is terrified of elevators. Nothing bad has ever happened to him on an elevator, but he\u2019s so afraid of elevators that he will always take the stairs. That wasn\u2019t a problem when Jayden worked on the second floor of an office building, but now he has a new job\u2014on the 29th floor of a skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles. Jayden knows he can\u2019t climb 29 flights of stairs in order to get to work each day, so he decided to see a behavior therapist for help.<\/p>\r\n The therapist asks Jayden to first construct a hierarchy of elevator-related situations that elicit fear and anxiety. They range from situations of mild anxiety such as being nervous around the other people in the elevator, to the fear of getting an arm caught in the door, to panic-provoking situations such as getting trapped or the cable snapping. Next, the therapist uses progressive relaxation. She teaches Jayden how to relax each of his muscle groups so that he achieves a drowsy, relaxed, and comfortable state of mind. Once he\u2019s in this state, she asks Jayden to imagine a mildly anxiety-provoking situation. Jayden is standing in front of the elevator thinking about pressing the call button.<\/p>\r\n If this scenario causes Jayden anxiety, he lifts his finger. The therapist would then tell Jayden to forget the scene and return to his relaxed state. She repeats this scenario over and over until Jayden can imagine himself pressing the call button without anxiety. Over time the therapist and Jayden use progressive relaxation and imagination to proceed through all of the situations on Jayden\u2019s hierarchy until he becomes desensitized to each one. After this, Jayden and the therapist begin to practice what he only previously envisioned in therapy, gradually going from pressing the button to actually riding an elevator. The goal is that Jayden will soon be able to take the elevator all the way up to the 29th floor of his office without feeling any anxiety.<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n Sometimes, it\u2019s too impractical, expensive, or embarrassing to re-create anxiety-producing situations, so a therapist might employ virtual reality exposure therapy<\/span> by using a simulation to help conquer fears. Virtual reality exposure therapy has been used effectively to treat numerous anxiety disorders such as the fear of public speaking, claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), aviophobia (fear of flying), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a trauma and stressor-related disorder (Gerardi, Cukor, Difede, Rizzo, & Rothbaum, 2010).<\/p>\r\n Behavior therapy also uses operant conditioning<\/strong> principles\u2014the idea that behaviors followed by positive consequences are more likely to be repeated.<\/p>\r\n Recall what you learned about operant conditioning: we have a tendency to repeat behaviors that are reinforced.<\/p>\r\n Positive reinforcement occurs when behavior is followed by a pleasurable outcome, increasing its probability. Negative reinforcement occurs when behavior is followed by the removal of unpleasant consequences, increasing its likelihood. For instance, allowing children to watch TV after finishing their chores increases the probability that the behavior will reoccur. Behaviors that are not reinforced become extinguished.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<\/section>\r\n Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)<\/strong> systematically uses reinforcement to increase desired behaviors and decrease problematic ones. This approach is commonly used with children with autism spectrum disorder. The therapist identifies what reinforces the child's behavior and develops strategies to reinforce adaptive behaviors while not reinforcing maladaptive ones.<\/p>\r\n Token economies<\/strong> use symbolic rewards (tokens, points, stickers) that can be exchanged for desired items or privileges. This approach has been used in psychiatric hospitals, schools, and other settings to reinforce positive behaviors like following rules, completing tasks, or engaging in social activities.<\/p>","rendered":" While psychoanalysis focuses on uncovering unconscious conflicts, behavior therapy<\/strong> focuses directly on changing unwanted behaviors using principles of learning.<\/p>\n In behavior therapy<\/span>, a therapist employs principles of learning to help clients change undesirable behaviors\u2014rather than digging deeply into one\u2019s unconscious. Therapists with this orientation believe that dysfunctional behaviors, like phobias and bedwetting, can be changed by teaching clients new, more constructive behaviors.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Behavior therapy employs both classical and operant conditioning techniques to change behavior.<\/p>\n One type of behavior therapy utilizes classical conditioning techniques. Therapists using these techniques believe that dysfunctional behaviors are conditioned responses. Applying the conditioning principles developed by Ivan Pavlov, these therapists seek to recondition their clients and thus change their behavior.<\/p>\n For example: Emmie is eight years old, and frequently wets her bed at night. She\u2019s been invited to several sleepovers, but she won\u2019t go because of her problem. Using a type of conditioning therapy, Emmie begins to sleep on a liquid-sensitive bed pad that is hooked to an alarm. When moisture touches the pad, it sets off the alarm, waking up Emmie. When this process is repeated enough times, Emmie develops an association between urinary relaxation and waking up, and this stops the bedwetting. Emmie has now gone three weeks without wetting her bed and is looking forward to her first sleepover this weekend.<\/p>\n One commonly used classical conditioning therapeutic technique is\u00a0counterconditioning.<\/span><\/p>\n Counterconditioning <\/strong>is when a client learns a new response to a stimulus that has previously elicited an undesirable behavior.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Two counterconditioning techniques are aversive conditioning and exposure therapy.<\/p>\n Aversive conditioning<\/span> uses an unpleasant stimulus to stop an undesirable behavior. Therapists apply this technique to eliminate addictive behaviors, such as smoking, nail-biting, and drinking. In aversion therapy, clients will typically engage in a specific behavior (such as nail biting) and at the same time are exposed to something unpleasant, such as a mild electric shock or a bad taste. After repeated associations between the unpleasant stimulus and the behavior, the client can learn to stop the unwanted behavior.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Aversion therapy has been used effectively for years in the treatment of alcoholism (Davidson, 1974; Elkins, 1991; Streeton & Whelan, 2001). One common way this occurs is through a chemically based substance known as Antabuse. When a person takes Antabuse and then consumes alcohol, uncomfortable side effects result including nausea, vomiting, increased heart rate, heart palpitations, severe headache, and shortness of breath. Antabuse is repeatedly paired with alcohol until the client associates alcohol with unpleasant feelings, which decreases the client\u2019s desire to consume alcohol. Antabuse creates a conditioned aversion to alcohol because it replaces the original pleasure response with an unpleasant one.<\/p>\n In\u00a0exposure therapy<\/span>, a therapist seeks to treat clients\u2019 fears or anxiety by presenting them with the object or situation that causes their problem, with the idea that they will eventually get used to it. This can be done via reality, imagination, or virtual reality.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Exposure therapy was first reported in 1924 by Mary Cover Jones, who is considered the mother of behavior therapy. Jones worked with a boy named Peter who was afraid of rabbits. Her goal was to replace Peter\u2019s fear of rabbits with a conditioned response of relaxation, which is a response that is incompatible with fear. How did she do it? Jones began by placing a caged rabbit on the other side of a room with Peter while he ate his afternoon snack. Over the course of several days, Jones moved the rabbit closer and closer to where Peter was seated with his snack. After two months of being exposed to the rabbit while relaxing with his snack, Peter was able to hold the rabbit and pet it while eating (Jones, 1924).<\/p>\n Thirty years later, Joseph Wolpe (1958) refined Jones\u2019s techniques, giving us the behavior therapy technique of exposure therapy that is used today. A popular form of exposure therapy is\u00a0systematic desensitization<\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n In systematic desensitization<\/strong>, a calm and pleasant state is gradually associated with increasing levels of anxiety-inducing stimuli. The idea is that you can\u2019t be nervous and relaxed at the same time. Therefore, if you can learn to relax when you are facing environmental stimuli that make you nervous or fearful, you can eventually eliminate your unwanted fear response (Wolpe, 1958).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n How does exposure therapy work? Jayden is terrified of elevators. Nothing bad has ever happened to him on an elevator, but he\u2019s so afraid of elevators that he will always take the stairs. That wasn\u2019t a problem when Jayden worked on the second floor of an office building, but now he has a new job\u2014on the 29th floor of a skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles. Jayden knows he can\u2019t climb 29 flights of stairs in order to get to work each day, so he decided to see a behavior therapist for help.<\/p>\n The therapist asks Jayden to first construct a hierarchy of elevator-related situations that elicit fear and anxiety. They range from situations of mild anxiety such as being nervous around the other people in the elevator, to the fear of getting an arm caught in the door, to panic-provoking situations such as getting trapped or the cable snapping. Next, the therapist uses progressive relaxation. She teaches Jayden how to relax each of his muscle groups so that he achieves a drowsy, relaxed, and comfortable state of mind. Once he\u2019s in this state, she asks Jayden to imagine a mildly anxiety-provoking situation. Jayden is standing in front of the elevator thinking about pressing the call button.<\/p>\n If this scenario causes Jayden anxiety, he lifts his finger. The therapist would then tell Jayden to forget the scene and return to his relaxed state. She repeats this scenario over and over until Jayden can imagine himself pressing the call button without anxiety. Over time the therapist and Jayden use progressive relaxation and imagination to proceed through all of the situations on Jayden\u2019s hierarchy until he becomes desensitized to each one. After this, Jayden and the therapist begin to practice what he only previously envisioned in therapy, gradually going from pressing the button to actually riding an elevator. The goal is that Jayden will soon be able to take the elevator all the way up to the 29th floor of his office without feeling any anxiety.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Sometimes, it\u2019s too impractical, expensive, or embarrassing to re-create anxiety-producing situations, so a therapist might employ virtual reality exposure therapy<\/span> by using a simulation to help conquer fears. Virtual reality exposure therapy has been used effectively to treat numerous anxiety disorders such as the fear of public speaking, claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), aviophobia (fear of flying), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a trauma and stressor-related disorder (Gerardi, Cukor, Difede, Rizzo, & Rothbaum, 2010).<\/p>\n Behavior therapy also uses operant conditioning<\/strong> principles\u2014the idea that behaviors followed by positive consequences are more likely to be repeated.<\/p>\n Recall what you learned about operant conditioning: we have a tendency to repeat behaviors that are reinforced.<\/p>\n Positive reinforcement occurs when behavior is followed by a pleasurable outcome, increasing its probability. Negative reinforcement occurs when behavior is followed by the removal of unpleasant consequences, increasing its likelihood. For instance, allowing children to watch TV after finishing their chores increases the probability that the behavior will reoccur. Behaviors that are not reinforced become extinguished.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)<\/strong> systematically uses reinforcement to increase desired behaviors and decrease problematic ones. This approach is commonly used with children with autism spectrum disorder. The therapist identifies what reinforces the child’s behavior and develops strategies to reinforce adaptive behaviors while not reinforcing maladaptive ones.<\/p>\n Token economies<\/strong> use symbolic rewards (tokens, points, stickers) that can be exchanged for desired items or privileges. This approach has been used in psychiatric hospitals, schools, and other settings to reinforce positive behaviors like following rules, completing tasks, or engaging in social activities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"menu_order":10,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"copyrighted_video\",\"description\":\"Deep Breathing to Relax\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy of Greater Columbus\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dXRBNagGxtc\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"other\",\"license_terms\":\"Standard YouTube License\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"College student with a pen\",\"author\":\"CollegeDegrees360\",\"organization\":\"Flickr\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/83633410@N07\/7658214720\/in\/photostream\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Introduction to Psychology\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Open 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Conditioning Therapies<\/h3>\r\n
counterconditioning<\/h3>\r\n
aversive conditioning<\/h3>\r\n
exposure therapy<\/h3>\r\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/855\/2017\/04\/11031018\/ucrcr.jpeg\")
Figure 2<\/strong>.\u00a0Exposure therapy seeks to change the response to a conditioned stimulus (CS). An unconditioned stimulus is presented over and over just after the presentation of the conditioned stimulus. This figure shows conditioning as conducted in Mary Cover Jones\u2019 1924 study.<\/span>[\/caption]\r\n\r\nsystematic desensitization<\/h3>\r\n
Operant Conditioning Therapies<\/h3>\r\n
Behavior Therapy<\/h2>\n
behavior therapy<\/h3>\n
Classical Conditioning Therapies<\/h3>\n
counterconditioning<\/h3>\n
aversive conditioning<\/h3>\n
exposure therapy<\/h3>\n
systematic desensitization<\/h3>\n
Operant Conditioning Therapies<\/h3>\n