Behavior Therapy - How It Works

What is behavior therapy?

Behavior therapy, an important aspect of cognitive behavior therapy, is a based on the belief that one’s actions, or behavior, greatly affect one’s feelings. The basic premise is that since maladaptive behaviors are learned, they can be unlearned as well. Behavior therapy is used to help people change destructive and unhealthy behaviors into more positive ones. Behavior therapy has shown to be highly effective in treating a wide variety of emotional disturbances.

How does behavior therapy work?

The success of behavior therapy lies in the individual. In order to successfully deal with emotional disturbances, one must first realize that certain behavior aspects of the problem can be controlled. behavior therapy works hand-in-hand with cognitive therapy to change the way a person feels about and reacts to a situation.

Consider the following example: You are denied a promotion at work; and you feel badly about it. Perhaps you call in sick to work the following day. You end up sleeping late and staying in bed all day, ruminating about your recent “failure” and reflecting on similar past experiences. That night, instead of going out with friends, you cancel your plans. Later that evening you are unable to get to sleep, and you continue to think negatively about yourself. Your thoughts and behavior link together in a detrimental cycle.

A key principle in behavior therapy is to be aware of your negative thinking (cognitive) and to not allow those thoughts to control your plans or actions. Perhaps if you took a brisk walk after work to “let off steam” and later read a book or watched a movie you enjoy, you wouldn’t feel like calling in sick to work. If you do not cancel your plans with friends, perhaps you can talk to them about your issue and receive support (see talk therapy). You begin to understand that you are in control of your thoughts and actions.

Can behavior therapy help me?

Behavior therapy is useful for treating the following emotional disturbances:

• Social anxiety or shyness
• Panic attacks
• Phobias
• Obsessions and compulsions (OCD and related conditions)
• Anxiety or chronic worry
• Post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSD and related conditions)
• Insomnia and other sleep disturbances
• Difficulty establishing or maintaining relationships
• Problems with marriage or other current relationships
• Job, career or school difficulties
• Acute stress
• Insufficient self-esteem or self-respect
• Inadequate coping skills, or ill-chosen methods of coping
• Substance abuse, co-dependency and “enabling”
• Passivity, procrastination and “passive aggression”
• Trouble keeping feelings such as anger, sadness, fear, guilt, shame, eagerness, excitement, etc., within reasonable bounds
• Over-inhibition of feelings or expression

Behavior therapy is directly related to cognitive therapy. By understanding what cognitive therapy is and how it relates to behavior therapy, one can receive the full benefits of both.