Behavior Therapy

What is behavior therapy?

Behavior therapy helps people with mental disorders by helping them change behavior patterns.

Behavior therapy is based on several theories about how people learn and why they develop certain behavior patterns. Those theories include:

• classical conditioning
• operant conditioning
• social learning.

Behavior therapy can help with:

• anxiety
• changing negative habits such as smoking, overeating, thumb-sucking, bedwetting, and nail biting
• depression
• obsessive compulsive disorder
• substance abuse
• sleep disorders.

What is classical conditioning?

Classical conditioning is one of the ways habits are acquired.

For instance, a dog drools when it gets food. If a bell is rung every time the dog gets food, after awhile the dog will drool whenever the bell is rung, even if no food is given. This is called a "conditioned response." If the bell is then rung many times without food being given, the dog's conditioned response to the bell may change. He may no longer drool when the bell is rung. In this case the "conditioned response" is said to be "extinguished."

A lot of fears are learned through classical conditioning. If you had a panic attack on a bus, for example, you might forever fear riding on a bus. You might also be more likely to develop other panic attacks in that setting.

A goal of behavior therapy may be to rid you of a fear-based response to events, things, or places by pairing them with a response that relaxes you. The relaxation response will help you feel less fearful. The more times the event is followed by a relaxation response, the less likely it is that the event will produce a fear-based response. The fear response is gradually "extinguished." This takes a lot of practice and hard work, but it is a very successful form of therapy.

For example, if you are afraid of dogs you might be taught ways to relax. You might be asked to think of situations related to your fear, such as holding a dog or seeing a picture of a dog. Next, you rank these situations, from least stressful to most stressful. Then you might be asked to imagine what causes the least fear while using the relaxation methods you have learned. If you can become comfortable while imagining that situation, the link between that situation and your fear may weaken. Once you are comfortable imagining the least fearful situation, you can move up your list. You can use the same methods with other situations that make you afraid until you can get to the actual thing you most fear.

What is operant conditioning?

Operant conditioning theory says that learning also occurs as a result of the rewards and punishments you get. If the result of your behavior is a reward, you are likely to repeat the behavior. If the result is a punishment, you are less likely to repeat the behavior.

Making a behavior painful and reducing the reward of a behavior are 2 ways to change behavior. For example, some medicines used to treat alcoholism cause you to feel ill if you drink alcohol while taking them. Others reduce or eliminate some of the good feelings you get with drinking.

What is social learning theory?

This theory stresses that the responses of people in your life, their opinions of you, and your opinion of yourself help determine your behavior. You may also learn behavior by watching and imitating others.

Training to make you more assertive and group therapies that use role-modeling and imitation are examples of social learning theory. Group therapy also helps you to know you are not alone, that it is possible to solve your problems.