Behavioral Psychology and Counselling

Behaviorism, also known as behavioral psychology, is a theory of learning based on the

idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. Conditioning occurs through
interaction with the environment. Behaviorists believe that our responses to environmental
stimuli shape our actions.
1. According to this school of thought, behavior can be studied in a systematic and observable
manner regardless of internal mental states.
2. According to this perspective, only observable behavior should be considered—cognitions,
emotions, and moods are far too subjective.
Strict behaviorists believed that any person can potentially be trained to perform any task,
regardless of genetic background, personality traits, and internal thoughts (within the limits of
their physical capabilities). It only requires the right conditioning.
Types of Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning is a technique frequently used in behavioral training in which a
neutral stimulus is paired with a naturally occurring stimulus. Eventually, the neutral stimulus
comes to evoke the same response as the naturally occurring stimulus, even without the naturally
occurring stimulus presenting itself. The associated stimulus is then known as the conditioned
stimulus and the learned behavior is known as the conditioned response.
Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning (sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning) is a method of
learning that occurs through reinforcements and punishments. Through operant conditioning, an
association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior.
When a desirable result follows an action, the behavior becomes more likely to occur
again in the future. Responses followed by adverse outcomes, on the other hand, become less
likely to happen again in the future.
Role of the Counselor
 Roles of the behavioral counselor are varying and include being a consultant, a
reinforcer, and a facilitator of an environment to achieve the goals of therapy.
 Counselors using social learning may model the desired behavior, while respondent and
operant conditioning counselors are more directive and prescriptive in their approach to
the therapy goals.
 Use of tests and diagnosis varied greatly among behavioral counselors.
 Goals
 The goal of behaviorists counselors like other theories is to improve the life of the client
through better adjustments to life and to achieve personal goals professionally and
personally.
Four steps in developing therapeutic goals are.
 Define the problem concretely specifying when, where, how and with whom the problem
exists.
 Take a developmental history of the problem eliciting conditions surrounding the
beginning of the problem and what solutions the client has tried in the past.
 Establish specific sub goals in small incremental steps toward the final goal.
 Determine the best behavioral method to be used help the client change.

Behavior Therapy Based on Classical Conditioning

Classical
conditioning is one way to alter behavior, and a number of techniques exist that can produce
such change. Originally known as behavior modification, this type of therapy is often referred to
today as applied behavior analysis.Some of the techniques and strategies used in this approach to
therapy include:

Flooding

This process involves exposing people to fear-invoking objects or situations intensely and
rapidly. It is often used to treat phobias, anxiety and other stress-related disorders. During the
process, the individual is prevented from escaping or avoiding the situation. For example,
flooding might be used to help a client who is suffering from an intense fear of dogs. At first, the
client might be exposed to a small friendly dog for an extended period of time during which he
or she cannot leave. After repeated exposures to the dog during which nothing bad happens, the
fear response begins to fade.

Systematic Desensitization

This technique involves having a client make a list of fears and then teaching the individual to
relax while concentrating on these fears. The use of this process began with psychologist John B.
Watson and his famous Little Albert experiment in which he conditioned a young child to fear a
white rat. Later, Mary Cover Jones replicated Watson's results and utilized counterconditioning
techniques to desensitize and eliminate the fear response.Systematic desensitization is often used
to treat phobias. The process follows three basic steps.
 1. First, the client is taught relaxation techniques.

2. Next, the individual creates a ranked list of fear-invoking situations.

3. Starting with the least fear-inducing item and working their way up to the most fear-
inducing item, the client confronts these fears under the guidance of the therapist while
maintaining a relaxed state.

For example, an individual with a fear of the dark might start by looking at an image of a dark
room before moving on to thinking about being in a dark room and then actually confronting his
fear by sitting in a dark room. By pairing the old fear-producing stimulus with the newly learned
relaxation behavior, the phobic response can be reduced or even eliminated.

Aversion Therapy

This process involves pairing an undesirable behavior with an aversive stimulus in the hope that
the unwanted behavior will eventually be reduced. For example, someone suffering from
alcoholism might utilize a drug known as disulfiram, which causes severe symptoms such as
headaches, nausea, anxiety, and vomiting when combined with alcohol. Because the person
becomes extremely ill when they drink, the drinking behavior may be eliminated.

Behavior Therapy Based on Operant Conditioning

Many behavior techniques rely on the principles of operant conditioning, which means that they
utilize reinforcement, punishment, shaping, modeling and related techniques to alter behavior.
These methods have the benefit of being highly focused, which means that they can produce fast
and effective results.

Some of the techniques and strategies used in this approach to behavioral therapy include:

Token Economies

This type of behavioral strategy relies on reinforcement to modify behavior. Clients are allowed
to earn tokens that can be exchanged for special privileges or desired items. Parents and teachers
often use token economies to reinforce good behavior. Kids earn tokens for engaging in
preferred behaviors and may even lose tokens for displaying undesirable behaviors. These tokens
can then be traded for things such as candy, toys, or extra time playing with a favorite toy.

Contingency Management

This approach utilizes a formal written contract between the client and the therapist that outlines
the behavior change goals, reinforcements, and rewards that will be given and the penalties for
failing to meet the demands of the agreement. These types of agreements aren't just used by
therapists—teachers and parents also often use them with students and children in the form of
behavior contracts. Contingency contracts can be very effective in producing behavior changes
since the rules are spelled out clearly in black-and-white, preventing both parties from backing
down on their promises.

Modeling

This technique involves learning through observation and modeling the behavior of others. The
process is based on Albert Bandura's social learning theory, which emphasizes the social
components of the learning process. Rather than relying simply on reinforcement or punishment,
modeling allows individuals to learn new skills or acceptable behaviors by watching someone
else perform those desired skills. In some cases, the therapist might model the desired behavior.
In other instances, watching peers engage in sought-after behaviors can also be helpful.

Extinction

Another way to produce behavior change is to stop reinforcing a behavior in order to eliminate
the response. Time-outs are a perfect example of the extinction process. During a time-out, a
person is removed from a situation that provides reinforcement. For example, a child who starts
yelling or striking other children would be removed from the play activity and required to sit
quietly in a corner or another room where there are no opportunities for attention and
reinforcement. By taking away the attention that the child found rewarding, the unwanted
behavior is eventually extinguished.

Other Techniques

 Reinforcers increase the desired behaviors, when they follow the behavior.
 Reinforces can be negative or positive. Positive reinforces are those that are desired by
the client; while negative reinforces are contingencies to be avoided. Primary reinforces
are those that are intrinsically; ; while secondary reinforces are tokens that acquire their
value by being associated with a primary reinforce.
 Schedules of Reinforcement
i. Fixed-ratio means that the reinforce is delivered after a set number of responses.

ii. Fixed-interval means that the reinforce is delivered after a set time lapses.

iii. Variable-ration means that the reinforce is delivered after varying numbers of
responses.

iv. A variable-interval means that the reinforce is delivered at varying time intervals.
 Shaping is learning behavior in small steps that are successive approximations toward the
final desired behavior. Chaining is the order of the desired sequence of skills leading to
the desired behavior.
 Generalization is the transfer of the learnings from the behavioral therapy room to the
outside world.
 Maintenance is the consistent continuation of learned behaviors without support control
and self-management.
 Punishment is the delivery of aversive stimuli resulting in suppressing or eliminating a
behavior.
 behavioral rehearsal is the of repeating and improving a behavior until the client
accomplishes the behavior that is desired.
 Environmental planning is a process where the client arranges the circumstances to
promote or inhibit particular behaviors.
 Implosion is having the client desensitized by imagining an anxiety provoking situation
that may have a dire consequence. Flooding is similar except the anticipated outcome of
the anxiety provoking situation is not dire. This technique is contraindicated for use by
beginning counselors.
 Time out is an aversive technique where the client is prevented, usually through some
form of isolation, from receiving a positive reinforce.
 Overcorrection is an aversive technique where the client is required to restore the
environment and to improve it substantially.
 Covert sensitization is an aversive technique where a behavior is eliminated by pairing its
association with an unpleasant thought.
 Cognitive restructuring is helping the clients change how they think about an event or
situation by examining their thoughts and challenging the irrational or self-defeating
thoughts.
 Stress inoculation is a three step preventive technique.
 Define the nature of stress and coping for the client.
 Teach specific stress reduction and coping skills to expand those stress and coping skills
the client already uses.
  The client practices these new skills outside of the therapy room in real life situations.
 Thought stopping is a series of procedures which help the client to replace self-defeating
thoughts with assertive, positive or neutral thoughts. The initial procedure is one in which
the counselor asks the client to think obsessively in a self-defeating manner, then
suddenly and unexpectedly yells, “stop.” The client cannot continue the self-defeating
thoughts after this disruption.

Psychoanalytic theory and counselling

Psychoanalysis or psychodynamic theory, also known as the “historical perspective,” has

its roots with Sigmund Freud, who believed there were unconscious forces that drive behavior.
The techniques he developed, such as free association (freely talking to the therapist about
whatever comes up without censoring), dream analysis (examining dreams for important
information about the unconscious), and transference (redirecting feelings about certain people in
one’s life onto the therapist) are still used by psychoanalysts today.

Northwestern uses this theory to train counselors, and it is embedded throughout the
counselor training process. In general, psychotherapists and counselors who use this approach
direct much of their focus and energy on analyzing past relationships and, in particular, traumatic
childhood experiences in relation to an individual’s current life. The belief is that by revealing
and bringing these issues to the surface, treatment and healing can occur. This theory is highly
researched, and as the field of neuroscience advances, counselors are finding how
psychodynamic theory can actually positively affect a client’s brain. Psychodynamic theory can
be more time intensive in comparison to some short-term theories because it involves changing
deeply ingrained behaviors and requires significant work on understanding one’s self.

Psychoanalytic counseling theories hold that psychological problems result from the
present-day influence of unconscious psychological drives or motivations stemming from past
relationships and experiences. Dysfunctional thought and behavior patterns from the past have
become unconscious “working models” that guide clients toward continued dysfunctional
thought and behavior in their present lives. Psychoanalytic counselors strive to help their clients
become aware of these unconscious working models so that their negative influence can be
understood and addressed. Some currently preferred therapies grounded in psychoanalytic theory
include psychoanalysis, attachment therapy, object relations therapy and Adlerian therapy.

Role of the Counselor

To encourage the development of transference, giving the client a sense of safety and acceptance.
The client freely explores difficult material and experiences from their past, gaining insight and
working through unresolved issues. The counselor is an expert, who interprets for the client

Goals of therapy include

 Helping the client bring into the conscious the unconscious

 Helping the client work through a developmental stage that was not resolved or where the
client became fixated
 Help the client adjustment to the demands of work, intimacy, and society.

7.Techniques

 Free Association is a process where the client verbalizes any

thoughts that may without censorship, no matter how trivial the
thoughts or feeling may be to the client.
 Dream Analysis is a process where the client relates their dreams to
the counselor. The counselor interprets the obvious or manifest
content and the hidden meanings or latent content.
 Analysis of transference is a process where the client is encouraged
to attribute to counselor those issues that have caused difficulties
with significant authority figures in their lives. The counselor helps
the client to gain insight by the conflicts and feelings expressed.
 Analysis of resistance is a process where the counselor helps the
client to gain insight into what causes form the basis for a hesitation
or halting of therapy.
  Interpretation is a process where the counselor helps the client to
gain insight into past and present events.

Cognitive therapies and counseling

In the 1960s, psychotherapist Aaron Beck developed cognitive theory. This counseling
theory focuses on how people’s thinking can change feelings and behaviors. Unlike
psychodynamic theory, therapy based on cognitive theory is brief in nature and oriented toward
problem solving. Cognitive therapists focus more on their client’s present situation and distorted
thinking than on their past. Cognitive and behavioral therapy are often combined as one form of
theory practiced by counselors and therapists. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, has
been found in research to help with a number of mental illnesses including anxiety, personality,
eating, and substance abuse disorders. When working with patients suffering from depression,
Beck found that they commonly experienced a deluge of negative thoughts that presented
themselves spontaneously. He dubbed these cognitions "automatic thoughts", and discovered that
their content fell into three categories:

1. Negative ideas about themselves.

2. Negative thoughts about the world.
3. Negative thoughts about the future.

According to Beck, successful interventions educate a person to recognize and be aware of

their distorted thinking and will challenge its effects. Cognitive therapy is more commonly
known as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), due to it being almost exclusively practiced in
tandem with behavioral principles - though some therapists do still offer cognitive therapy as a
standalone.
 This type of therapy is most commonly used for the treatment of anxiety disorders and
depression, though it may be suitable in some other situations where negative patterns of
thinking have developed. Cognitive counseling theories hold that people experience
psychological and emotional difficulties when their thinking is out of sync with reality. When
this distorted or “faulty” thinking is applied to problem-solving, the result understandably leads
to faulty solutions. Cognitive counselors work to challenge their clients’ faulty thinking patterns
so clients are able to derive solutions that accurately address the problems they are experiencing.
Currently preferred cognitive-theory-based therapies include cognitive behavior therapy, reality
therapy, motivational interviewing, and acceptance and commitment therapy.

Role of the counselor

 In this approach, counselor is active and direct.

 They are instructors who teach and correct the client’s cognitions.
 Countering a deeply ingrained belief requires more than logic. It requires consistent
repetition.

Cognitive Therapy

Cognitive therapy centers on the belief that our thoughts are influenced by how we feel. There are a
number of different cognitive therapies, including Cognitive-Behavioral, Reality, Rational Emotive and
Transactional Analysis. Cognitive therapy focuses on the present. This means that issues from the past
that are influencing current thinking, are acknowledged but not concentrated on. C ognitive therapy is
the way in which the counselling relationship, between a counsellor and client, develops.
Assertiveness exercises, role-playing and homework are also part of the supportive one-to-one
sessions a client will have with a counsellor.

Rational emotive behavior therapy

 Rational Emotive Behavior therapy (REBT) centers on the belief that human beings have
a tendency to develop irrational behavior and beliefs. These are the ‘musts’ and ‘should’ that
many people fill their lives with, and which influence thought and deed. REBT acknowledges
that past and present conditions affect a person’s thinking and utilizes a framework so that the
counsellor can apply activating events that allow the client to identify beliefs and consequences.

 The primary goals of REBT focus on helping people realize that they can live more
rational and productive lives.
 REBT helps clients stop making demands and becoming upset through catastrophizing.
 One way this is accomplished is through teaching clients the A-B-C-D-E model of
REBT:
 A signifies the activating experience.
 B represents how the person thinks about the experience.
 C is the emotional reaction to B
 D is disputing irrational thoughts, usually with the help of a REBT counselor, and
replacing them with.
 E effective thoughts and hopefully a new personal philosophy that will help clients
achieve great life satisfaction.

Techniques

REBT encompasses a number of diverse techniques. Two primary ones are teaching and
disputing.

 Teaching involves having clients learn the basic ideas of REBT and understand how
thoughts are linked with emotions and behaviors(REE).
 Disputing thoughts and beliefs takes one of the three forms: cognitive, imaginal, and
behavioral.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive
behavior therapy is a type of
psychotherapeutic treatment
that helps patients understand
the thoughts and feelings
that influence behaviors
Cognitive
behavior therapy is a type of
psychotherapeutic treatment
that helps patients understand
the thoughts and feelings
that influence behaviors
Cognitive
behavior therapy is a type of
psychotherapeutic treatment
that helps patients understand
the thoughts and feelings
that influence behaviors
This cognitive approach to counselling is based on the belief that learning comes from
personal experience. Counselling will focus on a client’s ability to accept behavior, clarify
problems and difficulties and understand the reasoning behind the importance of setting goals.
With the help of self-management training, assertive exercises and role-playing the counsellor
can help a client work towards goals. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help with issues
such as: depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), addictions, eating disorders,
phobias and panic disorder, anger problems, relationship problems, sleep problems etc.
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) helps to be present to what is, accept what
can’t control, and take actions to positively change what can. The idea behind ACT is to help
become more aware of who you are and what you truly value.
Acceptance and Commitment therapy can help with:
 depression and anxiety
 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
 chronic pain
 eating disorders
 addiction.

Virtual Reality Therapy

This form of therapeutic approach works well in treating fears and phobias. This is
because virtual reality therapy (VRT) concentrates on accurately duplicating the distressing
situations. Counsellors who use this form of cognitive approach, during counselling sessions,
will recreate situations in order to expose the client to what triggers their fear. VRT also works
well in treating anxiety disorders.

Transactional Analysis
TA, as Transactional Analysis is also known, is based on the notion that our personality
consists of three states of ego – parent, adult and child. During interaction with others one of our
ego states will predominate, depending on the situation we find ourselves in. Certain types of
behavior are associated with each of the ego roles, and using this form of cognitive approach to
counselling allows the client to understand the different ego stages and how they interact with
each other.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) was developed with the aim of reducing
relapse and recurrence of depression in those who are vulnerable to episodes. The technique
employs traditional cognitive therapy methods and uses them in tandem with newer
psychological strategies such as mindfulness and meditation.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is a treatment that psychotherapists use to help access and process memories from
traumatic experiences, helping to move on. It can feel a strange process, having to discuss old
memories as a therapist essentially encourages to focus on something else, usually moving eyes
or possibly hand tapping or something else.