Behavioural Therapy

The Behavioural Therapy Definition

The behavioural approach suggests that behaviour is learned; for this reason, it can be unlearned and therefore changed. It focuses on the problem at hand and identifies ways to address it.

A wide range of mental illnesses can benefit from behavioural therapy, including but not limited to disorders like depression, anxiety, phobias, bipolar disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, etc.

Figure 1: Many forms of therapy are used to treat a variety of mental illnesses.

Behavioural Therapy Techniques

Behavioural therapy involves different techniques to treat various mental illnesses effectively, and phobias are one of the most common illnesses treated by this method. The main techniques for phobia treatment focus on classical and operant conditioning. Let's first understand what classical, and operant conditioning are and then discuss the main techniques used in behavioural therapy for phobias.

Keeping both of these ideas in mind, let's now look at some of the behavioural therapy techniques.

Behavioural therapy Examples: Systematic Desensitisation

A process that relies heavily on classical conditioning is systematic desensitisation.

As the name suggests, it is a 'systematic' process whereby each step is clearly defined, and one must achieve each step in the order stated to be effective. The three steps included in systematic desensitisation are:

1. The individual becomes familiar with relaxation techniques they can use, e.g. diaphragmatic breathing, meditation and mindfulness techniques.
2. The client and therapist then list all the situations that would cause them anxiety.
3. Finally, once the list has been created and triggers identified, they are gradually exposed to their fears. They are encouraged to use the relaxation techniques learned in the first step to combat the anxiety they may experience.

   Exposing an individual to their fears begins with the one that triggers the least anxiety and then increases to the one that triggers the most.

Behavioural Therapy Examples: Aversion Therapy

Aversion therapy is used to reduce and/or eliminate an undesirable behaviour pattern and is commonly used for individuals with substance abuse habits.

During this form of therapy, an individual may be exposed to their problem behaviour, i.e., gambling, alcohol and drugs, while at the same time being subjected to something unpleasant such as a foul smell, a sour/bitter taste, or even mild electric shocks.

Once the behaviour is associated with these unpleasant feelings, aversion therapy hopes to reduce the likelihood of occurrence of that behaviour or even eliminate it entirely.

The type of aversion therapy to be used depends on the undesirable behaviour. Still, no matter the type, the goal is to condition one's body to stop associating feelings of pleasure with harmful behaviour.

Behavioural Therapy Examples: Flooding

Another standard method used to treat phobias, flooding, is another type of exposure therapy.

Flooding works on the idea that fear is a limited-time response. The intervention assumes that while the individual may panic and experience anxiety when exposed to their fear initially, as time passes, the body will experience a period of exhaustion, causing the anxiety level to reduce.

Behavioural Therapy Examples: Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy

Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) was developed by Albert Ellis and is a form of cognitive behavioural therapy.

Sometimes, mental illnesses result from individuals holding irrational beliefs about the world around them, which causes them to experience mental distress. With the help of REBT, they can recognise that these beliefs are irrational and change their thinking patterns. Doing this helps them reduce the distress they may be experiencing.

REBT works on the ABC model. Let's break this down further.

1. Activating event - this is when something happens around the individual
2. Beliefs - this refers to the thoughts an individual has about what has happened
3. Consequence - this is an individual's emotional response to the situation

During this therapy, the activating event is addressed first, after which the therapist works with the individual to identify what beliefs led to their negative emotional response. By doing so, they help an individual look at situations differently and aim to change their beliefs at the core, which further helps in changing their emotional response.

You might be wondering how beliefs are changed. Well, one way of doing this is by using the method of disputation.

Behavioural Therapy for Depression

In addition to working as an effective treatment method for phobias, behavioural therapy can even be used to treat depression.

The behavioural model of depression suggests that it develops due to the lack of positive reinforcement in an individual's life. Due to this, the treatment method involves creating a set of positive reinforcements by changing the client’s behaviour and environment.

Let's look at the steps involved in behavioural therapy for depression.

• Firstly the individual monitors their activities and moods to understand better how their depressive symptoms work.

• Once this has been monitored, it is time for the individual to reflect. After reflection, the individual must list what activities make them the happiest and what makes them feel the lowest.

• The next step requires the individual to consider what matters to them in life and their overarching values. These differ from person to person because everyone considers different things to be important to them.

• The last step is for the individual to engage in the activity. This is not done immediately, but again, it comes after making a couple of lists. The first list should consist of activities they wish to engage in - exercise, cleaning, cooking, etc. Once these activities have been identified, the individual is required to rank these in order of how difficult they think each one would be to carry out.

Doing this not only reduces depressive symptoms but also gives the individual a sense of control when it comes to their feelings.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Behaviour Therapy

While beneficial in some ways, behavioural therapy comes with its own set of limitations. To evaluate this thoroughly, both the advantages of this therapy and its disadvantages must be discussed.

The fact that behavioural therapy has several types is one of the reasons it is considered an effective form of treatment for mental illnesses. Not everyone will have the same mental illness with the same severity, and different treatment types can provide the individual with some form of hope; if one method doesn't work, then others can be tried!

Further, with the constant development of the world around us, technology allows behavioural therapy to take place online instead of having the individual go in for treatment. Why is this such an important aspect?

As with any form of therapy, it is imperative for the individual to thoroughly engage with the treatment process for it to be effective, and this is where the main disadvantage comes in. If the individual has any qualms about the method of behavioural therapy being offered to them, they might not be 100% convinced that it will work for them. As a result, they may find themselves taking part half-heartedly.

Furthermore, behavioural therapy only attempts to change the behaviour that the mental illness is associated with rather than addressing the root cause of it. This can become difficult because if the root cause is not addressed and tackled at the forefront, the chances of relapse can be higher. As the therapy may treat mental illness, for the time being, it may not be an effective long-term solution.