Behavior Therapy

I spent a great deal of time studying behaviorism in college, including an entire course on it and having read a book by skinner. I do agree with a lot of principles from behaviorism, and will use some of its techniques, however I will not be my orientation.

Behavior therapy would not be my theoretical orientation as I feel there is more going on than stimulus- response. I agree with the criticism that while it does change behaviors, it does not change feelings. While I agree with a lot of the principles and think that it is useful, I am for a more holistic approach. While considering this idea of a holistic approach it is important to consider the criticism that behaviorism does not get at the cause of the problem, but only treats symptoms. In my opinion, this is a big mistake. It is comparable to giving someone who eats tons of greasy junk food pills to treat their symptom of heartburn. In that situation it is a mistake not to realize that there is a deeper issue, and that one might end up with serious health complications in the future such as heart attack or stroke.

I have heard a professor talk about EMDR and still do not fully understand it. I would not feel comfortable using it since I do not understand it, but I do think in using a holistic approach, it is important to notice one’s feelings in his or her body. For example I get extremely painful headaches when I am stressed out. Relaxation and visualization are techniques I would use with a client after identifying these feelings.

A friend’s young son refused to eat his dinner one night, which appeared to be part of an ongoing battle with the child. The friend had his son on his lap and told him that he couldn’t get up until he tried a few bites. His son sat there acting out but was obviously getting the most attention he’d had all day if not all week. I realized that the son learned that if he didn’t eat his food, he got extra time with his daddy. This is one example of a time I might do psycho-educational counseling with the client regarding reinforcements and their consequences. I might also use behavioral techniques with children, people with developmental disabilities, people with phobias, and of course outside of counseling-with pets.

A criticism of behavior therapy is that it does not provide insight. Behaviorists would argue that it is not necessary. If you have ever trained a dog, you would know that consistency with the approach is necessary for success, and no one can be completely consistent. In therapy with clients who are capable, it would be preferable in my opinion to promote insight so that clients could work to improve their own lives. The criticism of a lack of providing insight appears contradictory to the section on self-management and assertion training, which I really identified with.

The therapeutic relationship is not very important in behavior therapy and it involves “control and manipulation by the therapist”. After reading my opinion on other theories, it is probably obvious that I have a strong preference for a good relationship between client and therapist that is collaborative. It was also interesting to read that, “philosophically, the behavioral and humanistic approaches have been viewed as polar opposites”. This would explain why I spent more time writing about the criticisms of the theory, as I greatly identified with the Humanistic Approach. I do however like the part in the book where it says that a bridge is being made to connect the two approaches.