question_answer

Explain psychological distress according to behaviour therapy. Describe any one behavioural technique.

Or

Describe four factors which contribute to treatment of psychological distress.

Answer:

Behaviour therapies postulate that psychological distress arises because of faulty behaviour patterns or thought patterns. It is therefore, focused on the behaviour and thoughts of the client in the present. The past is relevant only to the extent of understanding the origins of the faulty behaviour and thought patterns. The past is not activated or relived. Only the faulty patterns are corrected in the present. The clinical application of learning theory principles constitutes behaviour therapy. Behaviour therapy consists of a large set of specific techniques and interventions. It is not a unified theory, which is applied irrespective of the clinical diagnosis or the symptoms present. The symptoms of the client and the clinical diagnosis are the guiding factors in the selection of the specific techniques or interventions to be applied. Treatment of phobias or excessive and crippling fears would require the use of one set of techniques while that of anger, outbursts would require another. A depressed client would be treated differently from a client who is anxious. The foundation of behaviour therapy is on formulating dysfunctional or faulty behaviours, the factors which reinforce and maintain these behaviours and devising methods by which they can be changed.

Negative reinforcement and aversive conditioning are the two major techniques of behaviour modification. Negative reinforcement refers to following an undesired response with an outcome that is painful or not liked. For example, the teacher reprimands a child who shouts in class. This is negative reinforcement. Aversive conditioning refers to repeated association of undesired response with an aversive consequence. For example, an alcoholic is given a mild electric shock and asked to smell the alcohol. With repeated pairings the smell of alcohol is aversive as the pain of the shock is associated with it and the person will give up alcohol.