Behaviour Therapies

Often used as an umbrella term, behaviour therapy is referred to as a form of therapy that aims at treating mental health disorders through bringing positive shifts in a person’s behaviour pattern. 

This particular form of therapy usually deals with the identification of unhealthy and probably self-destructive personality traits and bringing positive changes in them. The basic functionality that goes in the mechanism of behavioural therapies is based on the idea that a person learns certain behaviours and most of them can be easily unlearned. Therefore, the main objective of this form of therapy is based on solving the existing problems and looking for methods to bring a positive change in them.

Types of Behaviour therapies

The major types of behaviour therapies include –

• Cognitive behavioural therapy

Probably one of the most popular and commonly used behaviour therapy, behavioural therapy integrates behavioural therapy with cognitive therapy. It is based on the principles that depict how a person’s thoughts and beliefs create an impact on their actions and moods. 

The behaviour therapy process also focuses on the patient’s current challenges and methods to deal with them. However, the objective to be established in the long run is usually centred around bringing a shift in the person’s way of thinking and behavioural patterns healthily and positively.

• Cognitive behavioural play therapy

Cognitive behavioural play therapy is another prominent class of behaviour therapy. It is mostly used in the case of children. Initially, the process involves monitoring the children’s play and getting information regarding factors of things the child is uncomfortable in expressing or fails to express openly. 

In some cases, children are unable to choose their own activities and decide in which activities they can get themselves actively involved. In such situations, they are usually asked to indicate the same in any way they feel like, or pick up a favourite toy or draw a picture. After observing, the therapist might be able to identify the signs and communicate the same with the parents.

• System desensitization

System desensitization is a behaviour therapy technique that is based on the principle of classical conditioning. It is one of the behavioural therapies that are often used for the treatment of phobias, where the patient is instructed to replace their response of fear for a certain thing with something that makes them feel better and relaxed. In this way, professionals teach the techniques for relaxation and breathing techniques initially to slowly expose the patient to their fears as they get involved in the process. 

• Aversion therapy

It is a behaviour therapy technique used to treat health problems such as alcoholism and substance abuse disorder. Aversion therapy basically works on the principle of teaching people to link a desirable change with any healthy or unpleasant habit. The unwanted stimulus may consist of anything that causes inconvenience or discomfort to a person. For instance, a therapist may teach their clients to associate nicotine with a bitter memory that makes them feel uncomfortable. 

Behaviour therapy techniques

In a bid to understand how behavioural therapy works, it is important to have the knowledge of different behaviour therapy techniques that cater to a specific area of the core issue. These techniques are based on certain principles that can be classified into two different categories, namely operant conditioning and classical conditioning.

Operant Conditioning

This technique focuses on punishing and reinforcing behavioural patterns to either increase or reduce the frequency of a behaviour’s occurrence. Any behaviour that leads to desirable results is more likely to occur frequently in the future, while those with a negative impact are less likely to happen. 

This type of behaviour therapy can be further classified into several categories such as contingency management, extinction, and behaviour modelling. These are case-specific strategies that involve learning and learning behavioural patterns to eliminate the undesirable ones. 

Classical Conditioning

The classical conditioning technique of behaviour therapy focuses on developing associations between external stimuli and the response towards them. The process also focuses on altering behaviour depending on the relevant techniques and strategies that can be applied for a given case. 

Aversion therapy comes under the category of classical conditioning, as it involves the association of a certain undesirable behaviour with an immersive change to reduce the target factor. 

Benefits of Behaviour therapies

Several benefits of behaviour therapy include :

• Providing a support network to people suffering from mental disorders and challenges. 

• Bringing improvements and raising one’s self-esteem, as it is one of the psychological factors involved in the development of severe mental disorders.

• Helping with anger management to address the underlying issues

• Improving communication skills in maintaining healthy relationships with mental illnesses is difficult, which may require clinical depression behavioural therapy as a treatment method.

• Improving coping skills and the ability to handle stressful situations

• Providing the patients with tools to prevent relapses and enabling them to identify their problems and learn appropriate coping methods.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it can be said that behaviour therapy is one of the most effective ways to navigate one’s behaviour patterns and bring positive changes in one’s behaviour and actions. In addition to this, a wide range of therapy techniques also helps to deal with case-relevant requirements, as these are not the same for everyone. Due to the availability of the latest advancements in behavioural therapy, it has now become easy to treat a person with mental disorders and illnesses, which would not have been possible otherwise.