Relaxation Strategies

Progressive Relaxation

In the 1930s, Edmund Jacobson developed the method of tense-release muscle relaxation. The client lies in a recumbent position and is instructed to engage in an activity that increases tension in an isolated muscle group, for example, extending the right index finger. The client is instructed to attend to the sensations of tension, in this case, a portion of the right forearm, and then to return the finger to a resting position and note the sensations of relaxation. This is repeated for the flexors of the index finger. Training is conducted for scores of individual muscle groups throughout the body, requiring dozens of sessions extending over many months.

In the 1950s, Joseph Wolpe introduced relaxation to behavior therapy. He modified Jacobson's procedure so that a larger number of muscle groups are covered simultaneously, greatly decreasing training time. For example, all five fingers of the right hand are extended and then relaxed, rather than each individually. Wolpe regarded relaxation as antithetical to anxiety and incorporated it into his systematic desensitization procedure, in which clients are trained to engage in relaxation in the presence of anxiety-evoking cues.

In the 1970s, Douglas Bernstein and Thomas Borkovec further abbreviated the number of exercises. For example, the right hand and forearm are incorporated into one exercise by making and releasing a fist.[Page 486]There are 16 such “individual” muscle groups; these are combined into 7 and then into 4 areas of the body in a fixed sequence. Training takes 10 sessions to complete the entire sequence. This standardized format is widely employed in research programs in order to administer participants a specific “dose” of training.

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