PG656
BEHAVIOR THERAPY
PG656
BEHAVIOR THERAPY
I. General Purpose: The time is approaching when general clinical psychology will
not exist; when clinical psychological practice is broken down into specialties defined
by problem areas such as addictions, or anxiety disorders, or mood disorders. However,
that time has not arrived and even when that time does arrive there will be common
principles that provide foundations for specialty practice; principles related to
behavior, to behavior change, to clinical-research methods, etc.
Behavior therapy is a fairly well organized perspective that provides a set of integrated
principles for research/practice. The main purpose of this class is to afford you
a good opportunity to learn those principles. At the same time, the principles of
behavior therapy are learned best by learning them in a series of concrete, applied
contexts. Therefore, a second purpose of this course is to enable you to learn about
how behavior therapy proceeds now in selected problem-defined areas, what the contemporary
treatment-outcome literature says about selected behavior therapy approaches, etc.
I am less concerned with teaching you how to DO behavior therapy, and more concerned
with helping you THINK intelligently when you learn and undertake behavior therapy
work in practica and later.
Behavior therapy is not the piecemeal use of behavior therapy techniques by persons
of eclectic leanings or diverse doctrinal allegiance. Behavior therapy is an orientation
to clinical work that involves ways of thinking about clinical problems; modes of
thinking that lead directly to selected activities in assessment and treatment. One
who says "I use behavior therapy procedures sometimes" probably is malpracticing
behavior therapy.
I wish to put on formal lectures. I want to have identified times for discussion
and for question-and-answer exchanges. Jot down questions that arise while note taking
so we can have meaningful exchanges when those times come. Tolerate me as a entertain
myself by being a formal an olde tyme professor.
II. Text: Thorpe, G. L., and Olson, S. (1990). Behavior therapy: Concepts, procedures,
and applications. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
III. Supplemental Readings: The text material is supplemented by assigned readings.
Specific assignments are detailed below. The class can appoint one more more people
to get with me, get the materials for copying, etc.
IV. Case Presentation: Each of you will present a 20-minute case report to the class.
These reports will come toward the ends of the substantive units and will illustrate
material in the units. The report is to include: how the problem behavior was measured;
what treatment was used and why; how treatment outcome was assessed.
V. Units: The units are for organizing our work. Each is more or less cohesive.
Unit #1. "History, defining features, and foundations of behavior therapy."
This unit deals with the history of behavior therapy as a movement; with clinical
research methods; with behavioral assessment, and with cognitive therapy. The text
assignment is Chs. 1, 5, and 6, and pps. 75 - 81. The outside readings #1-#3, best
read in the order listed, are:
R-1 Hersen, M., Eisler, R. M., & Miller, P. M. (1975). Historical perspectives
in behavior modification; Introductory comments. In M. Hersen, R. M. Eisler, &
P. M. Miller (Eds.). Progress in behavior modification, Vol 1 (pp. 1-17). New York:
Academic Press.
R-2 Goldfried, M. R. (1977). Behavioral assessment in perspective. In J. D. Cone
and R. P. Hawkins (Eds.), Behavioral assessment: New directions in clinical psychology
(pp. 1-29).
R-3 Beck, A. T. Cognitive therapy: Past, present, and future. Journal of Consulting
and Clinical Psychology, 61, 194-198.
Unit #2. "Anxiety disorders/stress" This unit is about behavior therapy
and anxiety disorders. It also includes information about stress-related behavioral
medicine. (Behavior therapy was one of the vectors that produced behavioral medicine.)
It hardly scratches the surface of these huge and complex literatures, but one must
start somewhere. The text assignment is Chs. 2, 7, and 14. The outside readings #4-#7
are about exposure therapy and about three anxiety-disorder domains.
R-4 Thyer, B., Baum, M., & Reid, L. D. (1988). Exposure techniques in the reduction
of fear: A comparative review of the procedure in animals and humans. Advances in
Behaviour Research and Therapy, 10, 105-127.
R-5 Kraske, M., & Waikar, S. V. (1994). Panic disorder. In M. Hersen & R.
T. Ammerman, Handbook of prescriptive treatments for adults (pp. 135-156). New York:
Plenum.
R-6 McGlynn, F. D. (1994). Simple phobia. In M. Hersen & R. T. Ammerman, Handbook
of prescriptive treatments for adults (pp. 179-196). New York: Plenum.
R-7 Riggs, D. S., & Foa, E. B. (1993). Obsessive-compulsive disorder. In D. H.
Barlow (Ed.), Clinical handbook of psychological disorders (2nd ed., pp. 189-235).
new York: Guilford.
Unit #3. This is a loosely organized unit about behavior therapy in "schizophrenics"
and other severely incapacitated patients. The text assignment is Chs. 3 and12, and
pp. 70-75. The assigned readings #8-#11 are as follows:
R-8 Anderson, S. A., Vaulx-Smith, P., & Keshavan, M. S. (1994). Schizophrenia.
In M. Hersen & R. T. Ammerman (Eds.), Handbook of prescriptive treatments for
adults (pp. 73- 92). New York: Plenum.
R-9 Liberman, R. P., DeRisi, W. J., & Mueser, K. T. (1989). Training social skills.
In R. P. Liberman, et al., Social skills training for psychiatric patients (pp. 68-136).
New York: Pergamon.
R-10 Masters, J. C. et al (1987). Behavior therapy: Techniques and empirical findings
(3rd ed. pp. 191-232; 272-279). New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. (This material
is about operant behavior management.)
R-11 Winkler, R. C. (1970). Management of chronic psychiatric patients by a token
reinforcement system. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 3, 47-55.
VI. Exams, Grades, etc: There will be an exam on each unit. These will be in-class
exams that sample your knowledge of both lecture and reading material. The exams
will determine your grade. Close calls in grading might be influenced favorably or
unfavorably by the quality of case presentations: 90% or higher = A; 80-89.99% =
B; 70-79.99% = C. 69.99% or less = F.
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