Main Behaviourist Principles

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------------------------------------------------- Chrysalis ------------------------------------------------- Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling ------------------------------------------------- Year Two – Module Two Word Count: 2278 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Essay Title: 1) Discuss the main behaviourists principles and how these can be related to maladaptive behaviour. Make any necessary assumptions about the nature of the ‘maladaptive behaviour’ 2) Compare and contrast the behavioural approach with the psychoanalytical approach. Demonstrate your knowledge of the psychoanalytical position. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------…show more content…
Behaviourists do not believe that maladaptive behaviour is set in stone in a person’s characteristic. I believe there is heavy evidence that maladaptive behaviours can relate to the behaviourists theory. To demonstrate this, an example would be the adult survivor of the trauma of child abuse. They may go through life suppressing the emotions and anxieties born out of such abuse but could experience a ‘trigger’ many years later which may set the behaviour chain in motion. Thus meaning the suppressed thoughts and emotions may surface as a result of a stimulus (trigger) which may then lead to an action and then a consequence. When I refer to a ‘trigger’, I am meaning something which takes our thoughts back to an experience which is connected to anxiety or fear or an emotion such…show more content…
Therefore the therapist could use a range of treatments to assist the client in confronting their issues for instance hypnosis, free association and dream analysis. These would provide a route into the client’s subconscious. So it seems that each behaviour has an unconscious preceding circumstance and only when the underlying cause of behaviour is examined can the reason be revealed. As previously stated, the behaviourist only acts on the behaviour that is obtained as a response to a situation and examination of the conscious mind is not needed and the mind is seen as a consideration to be avoided as a cause of behaviour. It appears that the truth varies depending on the system that is employed. For the psychoanalyst the only truth stems from the unconscious and is not indicative of evident behaviour. While for the behaviourist, evident behaviour is the truth and the mind should not be used to assess what is true in regards to a client’s
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