Course Material (E-Content) of Psychology
By – Dr. KHURSHID JAHAN
Department of Psychology
MagadhMahila College
Behavioural Approach to Clinical Psychology
Behaviourists explain maladaptive behaviour in terms of the learning principles
that sustain & maintain it. Discuss and a behaviourist’s approach in contrast to a
psychoanalytic one. Introduction In this essay I will be demonstrating a
knowledge of the main behaviourist principles and approach, and how they can
be related to maladaptive behaviour. I will then compare this approach with the
psychoanalytical approach, evaluating the different approaches and considering
the ethical issues. Maladaptive behaviour and the Behaviourist principles
Maladaptive behaviours refer to behaviours that inhibit a person’s ability to
adjust to particular situations. This behaviour is often used to reduce one’s
anxiety, but the result is dysfunctional and non-productive. For example,
avoiding situations because you have unrealistic fears may initially reduce the
anxiety, but is non-productive in alleviating the actual problem long term.
Behaviourism is a school of thought in psychology based on the assumption that
learning occurs through interactions with the environment.
Two other assumptions of this theory are that the environment shapes behaviour
and that taking internal mental states such as thoughts, feelings and emotions
into consideration is useless in explaining behaviour. Behaviourists are unique
among psychologists in believing that it is unnecessary to speculate about
internal mental processes. The behaviourist theory believes that cultural and sub
– cultural conditioning moulds and shapes behaviour and subsequently the
personality.
Behaviourists also believe that people are born with only a handful of innate
reflexes and that all of a person’s complex behaviours are the result of learning
through interaction with the environment. They also assume that the processes
of learning are common to all species and so humans learn in the same way as
other animals. A human being, according to the behaviourist, has his life
determined for him since he is the product of the culture that causes him to be as
he is. The theory therefore, is very deterministic.
To the behaviourist, normal behaviour results from acceptable conditioning and
abnormal behaviour results from defective conditioning. The behaviourist isn’t
concerned in what developmental processes may have influenced a person’s
behaviour. They believe that if the patient is taught to understand his
environment and how he interacts with it, he will automatically understand
himself and his behaviour. The behaviourist functions from the position that if a
neurotic behaviour can be learned, then it can be unlearned.
In 1924, John Watson a behavioural psychologist, made the notorious claim in
his book that …‘if you give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my
own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at
random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select’. This
ideology, later to be called behaviourism, asserted that all psychology must be
completely measurable, recordable and scientific. The fundamental principle
underpinning this approach was that all behaviour, both ‘normal’ and abnormal,
is learned through conditioning. In simpler terms, it proposed that human
behaviour is learnt by humans interacting with the world around us as well as
the environment operating on us.
The development of ‘behaviourism’ at this point in history has since been
viewed as a reaction to the psychoanalytical models of human development
presented by Freud and the Neo- Freudians which at the time challenged and
confused many and appeared to lack scientific rigour.
The behavioural approach to therapy
The behavioural approach to therapy assumes that behaviour that is associated
with psychological problems develops through the same processes of learning
that affects the development of other behaviours. Therefore, behaviourists see
personality problems in the way that personality was developed. They do not
look at behaviour disorders as something a person has but that it reflects how
learning has influenced certain people to behave in a certain way in certain
situations.
Behaviour therapy is based upon the principles of classical
conditioning developed by Ivan Pavlov and operant conditioning developed
by B.F. Skinner. Classical conditioning happens when a neutral stimulus comes
right before another stimulus that triggers a reflexive response. The idea is that
if the neutral stimulus and whatever other stimulus that triggers a response is
paired together often enough that the neutral stimulus will produce the reflexive
response. Operant conditioning has to do with rewards and punishments and
how they can either strengthen or weaken certain behaviours.
Behavioural Therapy works from the premise behaviour is
not fixed. Maladaptive behaviour can be unlearned and adaptive behaviour can
be learned. ‘BT is an ‘outside in’ approach; by changing the behaviour, the
thinking about it will also change’ (Smith, et al.,2012, p. 25). A person’s
distress can be reduced by changing how they behave which in turn will change
their beliefs. Behavioural therapy includes techniques such as flooding,
systematic desensitisation, aversion, modelling and extinction. With systematic
desensitisation the client makes a list of avoidances in the order of least anxiety
provoking to most anxiety provoking. They will face the least avoidance first
and make their way up the list gradually using relaxation and imaginal
techniques to reduce their anxiety and gradually change their beliefs about the
stimulus.
Client-Counsellor Relationship
Behavioural counselling is a directive approach. The client and counsellor will
collaborate toform and working alliance. The work will concentrate in the
here and now. The counsellorwill use the core conditions to build the
relationship with the client but will not rely on therelationship alone to
produce change. A behavioural counsellor is active, didactic anddirective. The
counsellor will help the client to identify aims and goals and will design
alearning programme for the client.
Applications
The behavioural approach can be helpful for people who have phobias, panic
attacks, PTSDand OCD. People who are suffering from deeper psychological
problems such as personalitydisorder may need a longer and more in-depth
form of psychotherapy.
