Behavioral Therapy

[Ready for Fall 2026]

Modified: 2026-08-03 12:01 PM CDST

• Behavioral therapy derives from learning theory.
  • Behavioral therapy attacks symptoms not underlying causes, overtly directs clients to change their behavior, and relies on the science of psychology more so than other therapies.
    • Behavioral therapy also strives for therapeutic effect over relatively brief periods.

• Counterconditioning is the replacement of one response to a stimulus by another.
  • The substituted response is in the opposite affective direction to the original.
    • In aversion therapy, a client learns to associate negative consequences with a stimulus that was associated with positive consequences before.
• In systematic desensitization, a client's anxiety to a stimulus is replaced by relaxation.
  • Teaching the client to relax is part of the therapy.
    • In addition, the replacement is usually done in a graded fashion, making it easier for the new response to be substituted.
• Specific behavioral therapies have been created from the phenomena of classical and operant conditioning.
  • Counterconditioning, aversive therapy, extinction, flooding, and implosive therapy all derive from classical conditioning.
  • While the token economy and behavioral contracting come from operant conditioning.
  • Finally, some behavioral therapy comes from Bandura's modeling techniques and may account for the success of self-help groups.