BEHAVIORAL

PSYCHOTHERAPY
PREPARED BY :NUSRAT MUSHTAQ
MSC NURSING IST YEAR
 DEFINITION
 Behavioral psychotherapy is a form of
psychotherapy ,the goal of which is to
modify maladaptive behavior patterns
by reinforcing more adaptive
behaviors.
MAJOR ASSUMPTIONS OF BEHAVIORAL
PSYCHOTHERAPY

 All behavior is learnt (adaptive and

maladaptive)
 Human beings are passive organisms that can be
conditioned or shaped to do anything
 Behavior assessment is focused more on the
current behavior rather on historical
antecedents.
 Treatment strategies are individually tailored

to specific problems
PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIORAL
PSYCHOTHERAPY

Classical conditioning and operant conditioning

https://youtu.be/PRdCowYEtAg?si=C1vqeUeVq_
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 TECHNIQUES USED
 Systemic desensitization:
 It consists of three main steps:
o Relaxation training
o Hierarchy construction
o Desensitization of the stimulus
 Flooding:
 The patient is directly exposed to the phobic

stimulus ,but escape is made impossible .By

prolonged contact with the phobic stimulus ,the
therapist guidance and encouragement and his
modeling behavior reduce anxiety
 INDICATION:

Specific phobias.
 Aversion therapy :
 Pairing of pleasant with an unpleasant response ,so
that even in absence of the unpleasant response the
pleasant stimulus becomes unpleasant .Unpleasant
response is produced by electric stimulus , drugs,
social disapproval or even fantasy.
Operant conditioning procedure for increasing
adaptive behavior

 Positive reinforcement
 Token economy
Operant conditioning procedure to teach new
behavior

 Modeling
 Shaping
 Chaining
 Premack principle
Operant conditioning behaviors for decreasing
maladaptive behavior

 Punishment
 Time out
 Reciprocal inhibition
 Extinction /ignoring
 Contingency Contracting
Summarization
 In today’s lecture we discussed about
 Definition of behavioral psychotherapy
 Major assumptions in behavioral therapy
 Principles of behavioral therapy
 Techniques used in behavioral therapy
Conclusion
 Behavior therapy is a term that describes a broad
range of techniques used to change maladaptive
behaviors.
 The goal of behavioral therapy is to reinforce
desirable behaviors and eliminate unwanted ones.
Bibliography
a)Book references :
1.Townsend .MC psychiatric mental health nursing New Delhi:jaypee
brothers medical pubishers (P) Ltd;2012.p.324,325,326,327.
2.Pareek Bharat ,Arya Sandeep textbook of mental health and psychiatric
nursing :vision health science publisher;2020.p.31,32,33,34,35,36

b)Internet references :
1.http://www.slideshare.net/education4227/behaviour-therapy-61287949?
from_m_app=android
2.http://www.slideshare.net/Archanatripathy4/individual-therapy-
238070851?from_m_app=android
3.http://www.slideshare.net/MuhammadMusawarAli/reality-therapy-
149114207?from_m_app=android