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Behavior Therapy

Behavior therapy does not assume that, at their core, humans are inherently positive or negative. Behavior therapy assumes that, within biological constraints, humans are complex learners. Sometimes rich repertoires of positive behaviors are learned. Sometimes excesses (e.g., high anxiety or anger) or dysfunctional behaviors (e.g., substance use, aggressiveness, or inappropriate avoidance) are learned. Sometimes people have not learned needed behavior (e.g., job interviewing or assertion skills). Human functioning is heavily influenced by past learning and the requirements of current environments. The nature of the fit of the person and situation is critical. People who have the requisite cognitive, emotional, and behavioral skills needed in the current environment are likely to function well, but problems occur when the fit of the person to the environment is poor. If learning is the primary source of difficulty, then new learning can be the solution. Therefore, the goal of behavior therapy is to help the client learn to stop behaving in a certain manner and start behaving in a more effective way.

Behavior therapy is rooted in models of learning. The client's current concerns are concretely assessed and learning-based interventions are designed for effective cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning. Behavior therapy is action oriented and most appropriate for clients with behaviors that need to be changed, rather than those seeking self-exploration or help with decision making. Behavior therapy can be integrated with other approaches (e.g., cognitive or family therapy). An extensive body of research evidence documents the status of behavior therapy as an empirically supported intervention. This entry describes three types of learning—classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning, and vicarious learning—and explains how these types of learning are applied in behavior therapy.

Types of Learning

Classical Conditioning

In classical conditioning, new situation-response associations are developed through temporal pairing of new situations with events that currently elicit a response. With repetition, people come to react with the old response in the new situation. Many counseling-relevant examples of classical conditioning involve emotional conditioning. For example, initially a person might find that public speaking arouses only mild anxiety. Then, while making a presentation, this person makes mistakes that lead to great fear and embarrassment. Oral presentations become paired with strong negative emotional reactions such that now the person is strongly fearful when preparing or giving a speech. Classically-conditioned fear has strong motivational properties, causing escape, avoidance, and other dysfunctional behavior.

Operant Conditioning

In operant conditioning, behavior is learned and maintained by the consequences that follow the behavior. Some consequences are external (e.g., praise from another), whereas others are internal (e.g., anxious feelings). Consequences also differ in a temporal dimension; some occur immediately, while others are delayed. Sometimes a conflict between the immediate and delayed contingences is part of the problem (e.g., avoiding a test brings a student immediate anxiety reduction but later academic difficulties). Behavior that leads to positive events (positive reinforcement) or a reduction of aversive events (negative reinforcement) will be maintained or increased. Behavior that consistently fails to lead to reinforcement (extinction) will decrease. Behavior that inconsistently or intermittently leads to reinforcement will be highly resistant to extinction and likely to persist. Behavior leading to negative, unpleasant outcomes (punishment) tends to decrease. Punishing consequences can involve the presentation of something aversive (e.g., being yelled at) or the loss of something positive or pleasant (e.g., loss of privileges).

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