Behavioral Psychology

What is behavioral psychology?

Behavioral psychology, or behaviorism, is a theory suggesting that environment shapes human behavior. In a most basic sense, behavioral psychology is the study and analysis of observable behavior.

Techniques from Behavioral Psychology
Several concepts in behaviorism are utilized in therapy.

• Systematic desensitization is used for clients who have a specific phobia, which is characterized by marked fear or anxiety about an object or situation, like an animal or airplanes. Therapy involves applying relaxation or coping techniques as people are gradually exposed to the object or situation.
• Exposure and response prevention is a strategy that involves exposure to fearful situations, and then not engaging in unhelpful coping strategies. This therapeutic technique is used for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other types of anxiety disorders.
• Token economy reinforces target behavior by giving children and adults symbols or tokens that can be exchanged for something else. It can be used for people with a wide range of mental health issues, as well as in educational settings.
• Modeling involves clients learning behavior by imitation alone. It’s used in developmental psychology and can be incorporated into clinical use.
• Applied behavior analysis emerged in the 1960s as a way to modify behavior. It is commonly used for children with an autism spectrum disorder, and is also relevant to fields like education, industrial safety, and criminal behavior.
• Contingency management involves individuals receiving vouchers for retail goods and services, or the opportunity to win prizes. Often used for patients with substance abuse or related disorders, it typically takes the form of monetary-based reinforcers for drug-negative tests, according to The Psychiatrist.

Here you can find professional therapists & counselors on this topic.

Source: Rivier University, An introduction to behavioral psychology. 2019