Behavior Therapy Paper

behavior therapy

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A Paper
Presented to
Dr. Valerie L. Richards
Western Seminary San Jose

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In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course
CNS 504 S; Psychotherapeutic Systems

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By
Zhixiang (Justin) Pan. Box 072
November 18, 2005

Introduction

Behavior therapy, like its name might imply, is the psychotherapy that focuses on the change or improvement of behavior rather than the healing of the heart or the mind— As Jan Ehrenwald called it “Psychotherapy without a Psyche” (Ehrenwald, 1976). Although its main focus is on the behavior only, however, in its clinical approach, behavior therapy has been used to treat variety of disorders such as anxiety disorders,…show more content…
In applying this technique, the patient is asked to approach the anxiety-evoking object without fear and attempt to escape from it. It is believed that when the patient is exposed to the anxiety-evoking stimulus without the attempt to escape from it, the bond between the stimulus and the response will be weakened. Flooding is sometimes very effective. As Wolberg states, “Experiences convinces that in vivo desensitization is superior to desensitization through imagery, as, for example, in systematic desensitization (Wolberg, 1988).

Operant Conditioning

This technique is based upon the belief that a positive reinforcement will encourage a desirable behavior. In this technique, the patient will be given some positive reinforcement whenever a desirable behavior is performed. Such as in the case of the eating disorder, the patient is put in a barren room. Whenever the patient is willing to eat and his/her weight is found to be increasing, he/she will get a reward such as visit from people, TV, music, etc. This technique is also used in child education.

Contributions to…show more content…
Klein, W. W., Blomberg, L. C., & Hubbard, JR. L. R. (2004). Introduction to biblical interpretation. Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.

1. William R. Miller, John E. Martin. (1988). Behavior Therapy And Religion. Newbury Park, California: SAGE Publications, Inc.

2. Lewis R. Wolberg. (1988). The Technique of Psychotherapy. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson Inc.

3. Duane Schultz. (1981). A History of Modern Psychology. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovish, Publishers.

4. Jan Ehrenwald. (1976). The History of Psychotherapy—From Healing Magic to Encounter. New York: Jason Aronson, Inc.

5. Daniel Lenox Barlow. (1985 ). Educational Psychology—The Teaching-Learning Process. Chicago: Moody