Approaches to Counselling Psychology

A theory is considered acceptable when the theory is precise, clear and comprehensive. That is, it should
include within its scope as many facts as possible and provide for empirical verifiability and stimulate
research. The use fulness of a theory is considerably enhanced if it defines it terms operationally.

Counselling therapies could broadly be divided into two major categories

1. Supportive Therapies
2. Insight Therapies

Supportive Therapies: These kinds of therapies believe in restoring the individual’s adaptive capabilities
by teaching him new techniques to maintain control and by strengthening the existing defenses against
anxiety.

Supportive Therapies may involve Persuasion, Pressure and coercion, reassurance, environmental
manipulation, prestige suggestion, suggestive hypnosis, muscular relaxation, use of drugs and electric
shocks.

Behavior Modification and learning therapy are good examples of supportive therapy.

Insight Therapies: Insight therapies attempt to reduce or remove anxiety by altering the individual’s
perceptions and has two broad approaches.

a) Re-educative Approach
b) Re-constructive Approach

Re-Educative Approach: Re-educative approaches to therapy are directed toward producing more
harmonious self-structure. Roger’s client centered approach is an out-standing example of insight
therapies with re-educative goals.

Re-Constructive Approach: The objective of this approach is to gain insight into an individual’s
unconscious conflicts, thereby bringing about extensive alteration in the individual’s character structure
and the release of energies for the development of new adaptive capabilities. Freudian and other
psychoanalytic approaches to psychotherapy demonstrate this point of view.
The Directive or Authoritarian Approach:

The directive or authoritarian approach is largely associated with the work of Sigmund Freud. According
to the psychoanalytic theory the client is unaware and ignorant of the reason for his difficulties or
suffering which are deeply embedded in the unconsciousness. The client is therefore, helpless and it is
the therapists’ job to interpret the material for him/her. According to it psychological problems or
difficulties are strictly psychologically determined. This principle is known as psychological determinism.

Personality Structure:

According to Freud personality is comprised of three systems

a) The ID (Biological Component and Pleasure Principle)

b) The Ego (Psychological Component and Present Principle)
c) The Superego (Social Component and Moral Principle)

The ID:

 The First system of the personality

 Present at Birth and encompasses all of the inherited systems including the instincts and is
largely unconscious.
 Seeks satisfaction when it is possible
 The id is subjective and emotional

Strategies for obtaining pleasure: The id has two strategies for obtaining pleasure which are;

1) Reflex Actions
2) Primary Process

Reflex Actions: Reflex actions includes automatic processes, such as coughing and blinking, that reduce
tensions, especially those of a biological nature such as a tickle in the throat or speck in the eye.

Primary Process: Primary process strategy is more complex; it allows people to form a mental image of
remedy for their discomfort, a wish fulfillment, Freud believed that dreams served this function, offering
a wish-fulfillment image.

Types of Instincts: According to Freud people have two instincts

1) Life Instincts or Eros

2) Death Instincts or Thanatos
Life Instincts: Reflects the needs of the id, lead us to pursue pleasure and avoid pain. The libido, a zest
for life present at the birth is an important aspect of the life instinct or eros.

Death Instincts or Thanatos: Thanatos and eros are in opposition to each other, much like good or evil.
According to Freud the death instinct or Thanatos has its origins in aggression and other destructive
forces. Freud’s concept of a death instinct or a death drive was a longing to return to state of
nonexistence that we experienced before we were born.

The SUPEREGO:

 Opposite of the id
 It is the judicial branch of personality
 It includes a person’s moral code. The main concern is whether the actions are good or bad,
right or wrong
 It represents the ideal rather than the real and strive not for pleasure but for perfection.
 The Social Component of Personality and begins with children’s overcoming the oedipal or
electoral issues.

Two Parts of Superego: there are two parts of the superego which are;

1) Conscience
2) Ego-Ideal

Conscience: Conscience develops as a function of parental prohibition. When parental figures say No or
Stop this or administers punishment these admonitions are internalized within the child’s psyche and
later used by the child to self-punish or prohibit unacceptable impulses. The conscience becomes the
inner source of punishment.

Ego-Ideal: In contrasts to negative, punishing conscience the ego ideal is a positive desire to emulate
adult standards. For example, when parents model healthy, rational and functional behavior the strives
to behave similarly. Using the language of behavior psychology, the conscience is an inner presence that
uses a stick or punishment as a motivator while the ego ideal uses a carrot or reinforcement as a
primary motivator.

The EGO:

 It differentiated from the id as the child develops.

 The Psychological Component of personality
 It works as a mediator between the ID and the superego.
 It is an organizer guided by reality principle
  It has considerable amount of power, can effect changes in the environment, postpone or
suppress instinctual demands and encourage sound moral judgment and flexibility.
 It decides when and how the person should respond to demands of the id and superego.
 Ego uses defense mechanism as means of dealing with battling forces the id and superego.

Defense Mechanism:

Defense mechanisms are designed to ward off unacceptable id impulses that are at odds with superego
standards that would result in problems within the real world. They have four primary characteristics.

1) They are automatic: individuals reflexively use their defense mechanisms

2) They are unconscious
3) They ward off unacceptable impulses
4) They distort reality to a greater or lesser extent depending on the defense mechanism
employed.

Literature identified people have 40 types of ego defense mechanisms. But the most commons are
numbered at 8. A brief description of 8 common ego defense mechanisms are as follows;

Repression: Relegating disturbing thoughts and feelings to the unconscious rather than dealing with
them effectively.

Denial: Refusing to acknowledge as aspect of reality that is evident to others

Projection: Attributing one’s own unacceptable thoughts, emotions or actions to another.

Reaction Formation: Replacing unacceptable thoughts and emotions with their opposite to
overcompensate

Displacement: transferring strong feelings from the situation in which they originated to a less
threatening situation.

Rationalization: Justifying one’s choices in self-serving but invalid ways.

Regression: Reverting to a lower developmental level in thoughts, emotions and behavior.

Sublimation: Redirecting potentially harmful emotions or impulses into socially acceptable ones.

Psychosexual Developmental Stages:

Psychoanalysis is also built on what Freud referred to as psychosexual developmental stages. Each of the
stages focuses on a zone of pleasure that is dominant at a particular time
Stages are

1) Oral – 0-1 Year of age

2) Anal – 1-3 years of age
3) Phallic- 3-6 years of age
4) Latent- 6-Puberty
5) Genital Stage- Adolescence to Adulthood

Oral Stage:

 Dominant zone is mouth

 Activity to fulfill the libido is sucking
 Developmental problems at this stage later manifests gullibility, overeating and
argumentativeness.

Anal Stage

 Dominant zone is bowels

 Activity to fulfill the libido is emptying the bowels
 Development problems at this stage later manifests OCD

Phallic Stage:

 Chief zone of the pleasure is sex organs

 Activity to fulfill the libido is to acquire the characteristics of child’s same gender parental figure.
 Many aspects of emotional development evolve during the phallic years

Latent Stage

 Quiet period in a individual’s sexual development

 Sexual Drives become less important.
 Social interest increases
 Problems in this stage can manifest low self-esteem.

Genital Stage:

 After latent period continues throughout the life span

 Adolescents and adults solidify their personal identities
 Establish positive sexual and loving relationship

Levels of Consciousness:

According to Freud we have three levels of consciousness;

1) Conscious
2) Preconscious
3) Unconscious
Conscious: material in awareness, always available to us

Preconscious: holds information that may not be part of current awareness but which can be readily
accessed. This material may be benign

Unconscious: Holds the memories that are highly charged including repressed drives and impulses and
recollections of experiences that may be too painful or unacceptable to be allowed into the conscious or
preconscious.

Anxiety:

Anxiety is a feeling of dread that results from repressed feelings, memories, desires and experiences
that emerges to the surface of awareness. It can be considered as a state of tension that motivates us to
do something. It develops out of a conflict among the id, ego and superego over control of the available
psychic energy. The function of anxiety is to warn of impending danger. It is an essential part of
psychoanalysis.

Anxiety is broadly divided into three kinds

1) Reality Anxiety
2) Neurotic Anxiety
3) Moral Anxiety

Reality Anxiety: it is the fear of danger from external world and the level of such anxiety is proportionate
to the degree of real threat.

Neurotic Anxiety: it is the fear that the instincts will get out of hand and cause the person to do
something for which he or she will be punished. Neurotic anxiety may be free floating, panic or phobic.
It develops from the fear of ego to become overruled by the id.

Moral Anxiety: it is the fear of one’s own conscience. People with a well-developed conscience tend to
feel guilty when they do something contrary to their moral code. When the ego cannot control anxiety
by rational or direct methods it relies on indirect method namely ego-defense mechanism.

Goals of Psychoanalysis:

The overall goal psychoanalysis is to achieve equilibrium between the id and the superego. The ego
must be strong enough to handle the demands of living and not be overwhelmed by guilt, shame or
nervous anxiety. Specific goals include the following;
  Improves the ego’s conscious and mature control over irrational and harmful impulses and
instincts.
 Enriching the nature and variety of the ego defense mechanisms so that they are more effective,
mature and adaptable.
 Encouraging development of perspectives that are grounded in an accurate and clear
assessment of reality and that promote adjustment.
 Reducing perfectionism, rigidity and punitiveness of the superego.

Techniques:

Psychoanalytic techniques are most often applied within a specific setting, such as a counselor’s office or
a hospital’s interview room. Among the most prominent of these techniques are free association, dream
analysis, analysis of transference, analysis of resistance and interpretation.

Free Association: in free association the client abandons the normal way of censoring thoughts by
consciously repressing them instead says whatever comes to mind, even if the thoughts seem silly,
irrational, suggestive or painful. In this way the id is requested to speak and the ego remains silent.
Unconscious materials enter the conscious mind and there the counselor interprets it.

Dream Analysis: Freud believed that dreams were an avenue to understanding the unconscious, even
calling them “the royal road to the unconscious” he thought dreams were an attempt to fulfill a
childhood wish or express unacknowledged sexual desires. In dream analysis clients are encouraged to
dream and remember dreams.

Dream has two contents Manifest Content which contain obvious meaning and the Latent content
which has hidden but true meaning.

Analysis of Transference: transference is the client’s response to a counselor as if the counselor were
some significant figures in the client’s past, usually a parent figure. The analyst encourages this
transference and interprets the positive or negative feelings expressed. The release of feelings is
therapeutic, an emotional catharsis

Counter-transference, the clinician’s feelings about the client, was to be avoided. Clinicians should not
assume that hey are too skilled or insightful to develop countertransference reactions but should
carefully monitor any strong emotional reactions they have toward clients for the possibility of
countertransference.

Analysis of Resistance: sometimes clients initially make progress while undergoing psychoanalysis and
then slow down or stop. Their resistance to the therapeutic process may take many forms, such as
missing appointments, being late for appointments, not paying fees, persisting in transference, blocking
thoughts during free association or refusing to recall dreams or early memories. A counselor’s analysis
of resistance can help clients gain insight into it as well as other behaviors. If resistance is not dealt with,
the therapeutic process will probably come to a halt.

Interpretation: interpretation should be considered part of the techniques I have already discussed and
complementary to them. While interpreting the counselor helps the client understand the meaning of
past and present personal events. Interpretation encompasses explanation and analysis of a client’s
thoughts, feelings, and actions. Counselor must carefully time the use of interpretation. If it comes too
soon in the relationship, it can drive the client away. However, if it is not employed at all or used
frequently, the client may fail to develop insight.

Strength of Psychoanalysis:

 The approach emphasizes the importance of sexuality and the unconscious in human behavior.
 The approach lends itself to empirical studies; it is heuristic. Freud’s proposals have generated a
tremendous amount of research.
 The approach provides a theoretical base of support for a number of diagnostic instruments.
Such as thematic apperception test and Rorschach Ink Blots are rooted into psychoanalytic
theory.
 Psychoanalysis continues to evolve and most recently has emphasized adaptive processes and
social relations.
 The approach to be effective for those who suffer from a wide variety of disorder. Including
hysteria, narcissism, obsessive compulsive disorder, character disorders, anxiety, phobias and
sexual difficulties
 The approach stresses the importance of developmental growth stages.

Limitation of Psychoanalysis:

 The Classical psychoanalytic approach is time consuming and expensive.

 The approach does not seem to lend itself to working with older clients or even a large variety of
clients. Patients benefiting most from analysis are mainly middle-aged men and women
oppressed by a sense of futility or searching meaning in life.
 The approach is based on many concepts that are not easily communicated or understood, the
id, ego and superego for instance psychoanalytic terminology seems overly complicated.
 The approach is deterministic
Behavioral Approach

Behavior therapy practitioners focus on directly observable behavior, current determinants of behavior,
learning experiences that promote changes, tailoring treatment strategies to individual clients and
rigorous assessment and evaluation. Behavior therapy has been used to treat a wide range of
psychological ailments with specific client populations.

Anxiety disorders, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, eating and weight
disorders, sexual problems, pain management and hypertension have all been successfully treated using
this approach.

Behavioral procedures are used in the fields of developmental disabilities, mental illness, education and
special education, community psychology, clinical psychology, rehabilitation, business self-management,
sports psychology, health psychology, health-related behaviors, medicine and gerontology.

Basic Assumption Shared by Behavior Focused Therapies:

Regardless of their specific approach to behavior therapy, all behavior focused therapies generally
subscribe to the following commonalities;

 Although genetics plays a role, individual differences are derived primarily from different
experiences.
 Behavior is learned and acquired largely through conditioning and reinforcement.
 Behavior has a purpose
 Behavior therapy seeks to understand and change behavior
 Therapy should be on the scientific method and be systematic, empirical and experiential. Goals
should be stated in behavioral specific and measurable terms with progress assessed regularly.
 The focus of treatment should generally be on the present. Even behaviors are long-standing,
they are maintained by factors in the current environment.
 Behavior must be viewed in the context in which the occur
 A client’s environment can be manipulated to increase appropriate behaviors and decrease
harmful behaviors.
 Education- promoting new learning and transfer of learning is an important aspect of behavior
therapy.
 People need to take an active part in their treatment to successfully change their behaviors.

Classical conditioning:

Development of a Conditioned reflex: Pavlov on Reinforcement

the ingredients necessary to bring about Pavlovian or classical conditioning include

1. An unconditioned Stimulus: Which elicits a natural and automatic response from the organism
 2. An unconditioned Response: which is a natural and automatic response elicits by the
unconditioned stimulus
3. A conditioned Stimulus: Which is a neutral stimulus in that it does not elicit a natural and
automatic response from the organism.
4. A Conditioned response: Which occurs when UR, US, CS mixed in a certain way.

To produce a CR, the CS and the US must be paired a number of times. First the CS is presented and then
the US and the order of the presentation is very important. Each time the US occurs, a UR occurs.
Eventually the CS can be presented alone and it will elicit a response similar to the UR. When this
happens, a CR has been demonstrated.

A CR depends on a US for its existence, and that is precisely why the US is referred to as a reinforcer.
Obviously without the US a CS would never develop the capability of eliciting a CR.

Pavlov believed that the UR and the CR are always the same kind of response. If the UR is salivation the
CR must also be salivation. The magnitude of CR however always less than that of the UR.

Extinction: if after a CR has been developed the CS is a continually presented without the US following
the CS, the CR gradually disappears. When the CS no longer elicits a CR experimental extinction has
occurred. Extinction results when the CS is presented to the organism and is not followed by
reinforcement.

Spontaneous Recovery:

After a period of time following extinction if the CS is again presented to the organism the CR will
temporarily reappear. The CR has spontaneously recovered even though the US is no longer paired with
the CS

Higher Order Conditioning:

After a CS has been paired repeatedly with a US, it can be used much like a US. That is through its pairing
wit the US the CS develops reinforcing properties of its own and it can be paired with a second CS to
bring about a CR.

Because higher-order conditioning is studied without the US, that is during extinction, it is very difficult if
not impossible to go beyond third-order conditioning.

After a CS has been paired repeatedly with a US, it can be used much like a US. That is, through its
pairing with the US, the CS develops reinforcing
properties of its own, and it can be paired with a second CS to bring about a CR. Let us pair, for example,
a blinking light (CS) with the presentation of food powder (US). Food powder will cause the animal to
salivate, and after a number of pairings between the CS and the US, the blinking light presented alone
causes the animal to salivate. That the animal salivates to the blinking light is, of course, a conditioned
response.

Now that the blinking light elicits salivation, it can be paired with a second CS, say, a buzzer. The
direction of the pairing is the same as in the original conditioning: First the new CS (buzzer) is presented,
and then the old one (blinking light). Note that food is no longer involved. After a number of such
pairings, the buzzer, when presented alone, causes the animal to salivate. In this example, the first CS
was used much like a US is used to bring about a conditioned response. This is called second-order
conditioning. We also say that the first CS developed secondary reinforcing properties because it was
used to condition a response to a new stimulus. Therefore the CS is called a secondary reinforcer.
Because secondary reinforcement cannot develop without the US, the US is called a primary reinforcer.

Generalization:

Refers to the tendency to respond to a number of stimuli that are related to the one actually used in
training.

To illustrate generalization, we return to the basic conditioning procedure. We will use a 2,000-cps tone
for our CS and meat powder for our US. After a number of pairings, the tone alone causes the animal to
salivate; thus, we have developed a CR. Once this has been accomplished, we enter the extinction phase
of the experiment, only this time we will expose the animal to tones other than the original 2,000-cps
tone. Some of the new tones will have a frequency higher than 2,000 cps, and some will have a lower
frequency. Using the number of drops of saliva as our measure of the magnitude of the CR, we find that
the CR has its greatest magnitude when the 2,000-cps tone is presented, but the other tones also elicit
CRs. The magnitude of the CR depends on the similarity of a given tone to the original training tone; in
this case, the greater the similarity to the 2,000-cps tone, the greater the magnitude of the CR.

Discrimination:

Refers to the tendency to respond to a very restricted range of stimuli or to only the used during
training. Discrimination can be brought about in two ways;

1. Prolonged Training
2. Differential Reinforcement

Discrimination can be brought about in two ways: prolonged training and differential reinforcement.
First, if a CS is paired with a US many times, the tendency to respond to stimuli related to the CS, but not
identical to it, decreases. In other words, if the minimum number of pairings between the CS and US
necessary to develop a CR is used, there is a relatively strong tendency to respond to stimuli related to
the CS during extinction; that is, there is considerable generalization. However, if training is prolonged,
there is a reduced tendency to respond to stimuli other than the CS during extinction. Thus, it is possible
to control generalization by controlling training level: the greater the amount of training, the less
generalization.

The second way of bringing about discrimination is through differential reinforcement. This procedure
involves, in our example, presenting the 2,000-cps tone along with a number of other tones that will
occur during extinction. Only the 2,000-cps tone is followed by reinforcement. After such training, when
the animal is presented with tones other than the 2,000-cps tone during extinction, it tends not to
respond to them. Thus, discrimination is demonstrated.

Relationship between the CS and the US

Two general considerations about classical conditioning must be mentioned.

1. An optimal interval of presentation between the CS and US for conditioning to take place most
rapidly. A number of investigations have found that if the CS comes on a half second before the
US, conditioning proceeds most efficiently.
2. The CS must be presented before the US. It was typically found that if the CS comes on after the
US is presented conditioning is extremely difficult if not impossible.

Major Theoretical Concepts:

According to Pavlov the two basic processes governing all central nervous system activity are

1. Excitation
2. Inhibition

Pavlov speculated that each environmental event corresponds to some point on the cortex and that as
these events are experienced, they tend either to excite or to inhibit cortical activity. Thus, the cortex is
constantly being excited or inhibited, depending on what the organism is experiencing. This pattern of
excitation and inhibition that characterizes the brain at any given moment is what Pavlov called the
cortical mosaic.

Excitation: It is observed when a CS-US pairing excites or produce a reflex. A bell is paired repeatedly
with meat powder so that presentation of the CS elicits salivation. A tone is paired repeatedly with a
puff of air directed at the eye so that presentation of the CS alone results an eyeblink.

Inhibition:

Pavlov introduced three kinds of inhibition concepts. Which are as follows

a) External Inhibition
b) Internal Inhibition
 c) Disinhibition

External Inhibition: The simplest kind of inhibition is external inhibition. It may consider as destruction.
Suppose the CS is tone, if we present a novel stimulus with tone then an investigatory reflex will take
place that will cause the inhibition of CR. But external inhibition is temporary. After half a dozen of trials
with novel stimulus and CS the CR will be back with its full strength.

External inhibition is the term that Pavlov used to describe the disruptive effect that occurs when a
novel stimulus is presented along with an already established CS

Internal Inhibition: it is theoretically more interesting and complex than external inhibition. Pavlov
believed conditioning could involve either an active excitatory process by which a stimulus excites a
particular response or an inhibitory process by which a stimulus actively inhibits a response otherwise
which will occur. This he assumed was the basic mechanism underlying discrimination learning and
extinction process.

If extinction is carried just to the point where the CR no longer occurs and the animal is given a period of
twenty-four hours to rest, the CR will show spontaneous recovery when tested again. The extinction
experience does not permanently weaken the CR. Pavlov argued that the phenomenon of spontaneous
recovery proves that the waning of the CR in extinction does not represent a Dying of the reflex or any
real weakening of the learned S-R connection. It shows on the contrary that the response is there with
at least considerable strength and that it is actively blocked by some kind of inhibitory process. It is this
hypothetical inhibition Pavlov called internal inhibition.

Disinhibition: A CS+ is consistently paired with the US and CS- is not, responding to CS- can be expected
to drop out. But now there is the question whether the loss of responding to CS- represents a fading
away or decaying of that particular reflex or whether the reflex is still there is being inhibited in some
way. The critical test is to present a novel stimulus, one that would be expected to produce external
inhibition. If such a novel stimulus is presented at the same time as the CS+ it produces external
inhibition but if the novel stimulus is presented with CS- the CR recovers with full strength. Pavlov called
this phenomenon Disinhibition

Which is the disruption of a conditioned inhibition. In other words, if we pair a novel stimulus with a
conditioned inhibitor, the inhibitor fails to inhibit.

Reflex

• Reflexes are predetermined reactions to stimuli.

• The basic unit of responding in Pavlov's theory are reflex, which are elicited by stimuli.
 • Unconditioned reflexes are usually assumed to be prewired in the brain during brain maturation
in ways determined by the genes.

• The basic units of responding in Pavlov's theory are reflexes.

• Simple reflex- requiring only a sensory and a motor neuron- knee jerk or tendon reflex.

• Complex reflex: Complex reflexes are often labeled instincts- to be only complex chains of reflex
in which the whole chain could be released by a signal cue and all reflexes in the chain appeared
in chain could be released by a signal cue and all reflexes in the chain appeared in an innately
determined order. Rooting reflex (the movements of a human newborn infant which aid her in
finding her mother’s nipple) Freedom reflex (the pattern of struggling in response to physical
restraint)

• Innate reflex

• Learned reflex

First Signal System: Pavlov referred to the stimuli that come to signal biologically significant events (CSs)
as the first signal system or “the first signals of reality.”

Second Signal System: Humans also utilize language, which consists of symbols of reality. Thus, one may
respond to the word danger as one would respond to an actual dangerous situation. Pavlov referred to
the words that symbolize reality as the “signals of signals” or the second signal system.

Effects of Combination of Excitatory an Inhibitory Stimuli

 If several weak +CS are added they may summate to produce a CR even though they are
individually too weak to elicit any responses. An example might be combining food odors and
the nearness of lunchtime to produce a CR of salivation
 Many +CS and -CS are alternated the resistance to extinction of the CRs to the +CS will increase.
This is somewhat like alternating conditioning with extinction several times to produce a more
durable trace. For example, if the cues responsible for salivation are alternated with fear cues
which produce dry mouth the conditioned cues for salivation will remain effective even in the
prolonged absence of the USs for salivation.
 It is also possible to present +CSs and -CSs simultaneously. This combination of cues may have
effects different from either component. These effects may be quite complicated. A combination
of food odors and the time cue of 10:00 AM may be inhibitory, unless a strong distraction results
in disinhibition.
 If very Strong or extraordinary excitatory (+) and inhibitory (-) stimuli are combined a
conditioned neurosis may result. This may be demonstrated in many ways. Pavlov trained dogs
to respond to circles and not to respond to ellipses. He then made the two more and more like
each oter. When the dogs were unable to discriminate the figures and the dogs were in conflict,
the normally calm animals became extremely upset. When they were returned to problems that
 they had formerly found extremely easy they refused to pay attention to them, urinated and
became difficult to handle.

Basic Types of Conditioning:

Several types of classical conditioning, however, have been distinguished on the basis of the
experimental procedures used to produce them.

Defense Conditioning:

Second Order Conditioning

Backward Conditioning/Pseudo conditioning: if the CS presented after the US and condition happens it is
called backward conditioning. Pavlov did not believe such kind of conditioning. But few researchers have
found the proof of this kind of conditioning. But most of the researcher had not been able to replicate
this conditioning that’s why its also called pseudo-conditioning.

Trace Conditioning: The term trace conditioning is derived from the assumption that such traces could
be initiate reflexes some time after the CS had been presented. The assumption of such traces was
necessary to account for conditioning which deviated from the normal procedure of giving the CS
about .5 seconds before the US—since with delays between CS presentation and US presentation, there
cloud be no overlap between the cortex’s responses to the cues. In trace conditioning, therefore the
bond is between the trace of the CS and the area of the cortex excited by the US. Pavlov distinguished
between short trace conditioning where the time delay between CS and US was under one minute and
long trace conditioning where the was over 1 minute.

Temporal Conditioning: Conditioning with time interval. For example, A student have to take an 08:00
AM class. For that he has to set his alarm at 7:30 AM every day. After many days of being awakened at
the same time he starts to wake up before the alarm begins to start. This conditioned awakening
depends upon a specific time interval somehow acquiring the properties of CS.
Operant Conditioning

Radical Behaviorism

Skinner adopted and developed the scientific philosophy known as radical behaviorism. This scientific
orientation rejects scientific language and interpretations that refer to mentalistic events. Some
behavioristic learning theorists use term like drive, motivation and purpose in order to explain certain
aspects of human and nonhuman behavior. Skinner rejected these kinds of terms because they refer to
private, mental experience and represent in his view, a return to nonscientific psychology.

Respondent and Operant Behavior

According to Skinner behaviors are two types, which are as follows;

a) Respondent Behavior: Elicited by a known stimulus. Unconditioned responses are examples of

respondent behavior.
b) Operant Behavior: Not elicited by a known stimulus but is simply emitted by the organism.
Because operant behavior is not initially correlated with known stimuli, it seems to appear
spontaneously. Most of our everyday activities are operant behaviors.

Type S and Type R Conditioning:

Skinner identified two kinds of conditioning as follows

a) Type S: Also called as respondent conditioning and is identical to classical conditioning. It is

called type S conditioning to emphasize the importance of the stimulus in eliciting the desired
response.
b) Type R: the type of conditioning that involves operant behavior is called type R because of the
emphasis on the response. Type R conditioning is also called operant conditioning. In type R
conditioning the strength of conditioning is shown by response rate. Skinner’s research was
concerned almost entirely with type R or operant conditioning.

Skinner on Reinforcement:

Two general principles are associated with type R conditioning

a) Any response that is followed by a reinforcing stimulus tends to be repeated.

b) A reinforcing stimulus is anything that increase the rate with which an operant response occurs.
The principles of operant conditioning apply to a variety of situations. To modify behavior, one merely
has to find something that is reinforcing for organism whose behavior one wishes to modify, wait until
the desired behavior occurs, and then immediately reinforce the organism. When this is done, the rate
with which the desired response occurs increases. The same principles are thought to apply to the
development of human personality. According to Skinner, we are what we have been reinforced for
being. What we call personality is mothing more than consistent behavior patterns that summarize our
reinforcement history.

Shaping: it involves reinforcement, extinction, generalization and discrimination. In shaping, there is a

gradual movement from the original behavior to the desired behavior by reinforcing approximations of
the desired behavior. For example, shaping occurs when parents reinforce their toddler’s attempt to
walk, first the child is praised for walking while holding on to a parent’s hand, later for walking while
holding on to the furniture, later for taking a few steps without holding on to anything, and later for
walking from one end of the room to the other. As each new target is reached the child is no longer
praised for reaching the previous target.

Shaping has two components; Differential Reinforcement, which simply means some responses are
reinforced and others are not. And Successive Approximation, which refers to the fact that only those
responses that become increasingly similar to the one the experimenter wants are reinforced.

Maintenance: Maintenance is defined as being consistent in performing the actions desired without
depending on anyone else for support. In maintenance, an emphasis is placed on increasing a client’s
self-control and self-management. One this may be done is through self-monitoring. When clients learn
to modify their own behaviors. It involves two processes related to self-monitoring; self-observation and
self-recording.

Self-observation requires that a person notice particular behaviors he or she does.

Self-recording focuses on recording these behaviors.

Secondary Reinforcement: Any neutral stimulus paired with a primary reinforcer (food, water etc) takes
on reinforcing properties of its own, this is the principle of secondary reinforcement. It follows then
every discriminative operant must be a secondary reinforcer because it consistently precedes primary
reinforcement.

One way to demonstrate the reinforcing properties of a secondary stimulus is to program the skinner
box so that a light comes on before the animal receives food for making a lever-pressing response.

Keller and Schoenfeld (1950) provide an excellent summary of secondary reinforcement

  A stimulus that occasions or accompanies a reinforcement acquires thereby reinforcing value for
its own and may be called a conditioned, secondary or derived reinforcement. A secondary
reinforcement may be extinguished when repeatedly applied to a response for which there is no
ultimate primary reinforcement.
 A secondary reinforcement is positive when the reinforcement with which it is correlated is
positive and negative when the latter is negative.
 Once established, a secondary reinforcement is independent and nonspecific; it will not only
strengthen the same response which produced the original reinforcement but will also condition
a new and unrelated response. Moreover, it will do so even in the presence of a different
motive.
 Through generalization many stimuli besides the one correlated with reinforcement acquire
reinforcing value-positive or negative.

Generalized Reinforcers

A generalized reinforcer is a secondary reinforcer that has been paired with more than one primary
reinforcer. Money is a generalized reinforcer because it is ultimately associated with any number of
primary reinforcers.

The main advantage of the generalized reinforcer is that it does not depend on a certain condition of
deprivation to be effective. Food for example is only reinforcing for an organism deprived of food but
money can be used as reinforcer whether or not someone is deprived of food. Moreover, the very
activities that once led reinforcement may themselves become reinforcing.

Chaining:

One response can bring the organism into contact with stimuli that act as a discriminative operant for
another response, which in turn causes it to experience stimuli that cause a third response, and so on.
This process is referred as chaining. In fact, most behavior can be shown to involve some form of
chaining.

Positive and Negative reinforcement:

Skinner divided reinforcement in two categories;

1. Primary Positive Reinforcement

2. Primary Negative Reinforcement
Primary Positive Reinforcement: this is something that is naturally reinforcing to the organism such as
food or water and is related to survival. Any neutral stimulus associated with primary positive
reinforcement takes positive secondary reinforcing characteristics.

A positive reinforcer either primary or secondary is something that when added to the situation by a
certain response, increases the probability of that response’s recurrence.

Primary Negative Reinforcer: it is something naturally harmful to the organism, such as an aversive loud
tone or an electric shock. Any neutral stimulus associated with a primary negative reinforcer takes on
negative secondary reinforcing characteristics.

A negative reinforcer either primary or secondary is something that when removed from the situation
by a certain response, increases the probability of that response’s recurrence.

Point to be noted that positive reinforcement is not positive because responses produce pleasant or
desirable outcomes. Similarly, negative reinforcement does not earn its name because a response
produces nasty or unpleasant outcomes. In addition, negative reinforcement should not be confused
with punishment.

Punishment:

Punishment occurs when a response removes something positive from the situation or adds something
negative. in everyday language we can say that punishment is either taking away something an organism
wants or giving it something it does not want. In either case, the outcome of the response temporarily
decreases the probability of recurrence of that response. Skinner and Thorndike agreed on the
effectiveness of punishment. It does not decrease the probability of a response. Although punishment
suppresses a response as long as it is applied, it does not weaken the habit.

Problems with punishment

 It causes und=fortunate emotional by-products

 It indicates what the organism should not do, not what it should do
 It justifies inflicting pain on others
 Being in a situation where previously punished behavior could be engaged in without being
punished may excuse a child to do so
 Punishment elicits aggression toward the punishing agent and others
 Punishment often replaces one undesirable response with another undesirable response.

Schedules of Reinforcement:
Although Pavlov did some work with partial reinforcement using classical conditioning, it was Skinner
who thoroughly investigated the topic. That is if an organism receives a reinforcer every time it makes
an appropriate response during earning and then is placed on extinction it will extinguish faster than an
organism who had only a certain percentage of its correct responses reinforced during acquisition, in
other words partial reinforcement leads greater resistance to extinction than continuous or 100 percent
reinforcement, and this fact is called the partial reinforcement effect.

Skinner studied the partial reinforcement effect extensively and eventually wrote a book with Ferster
called Schedules of Reinforcement (1957). This book summarized years of research on various types of
partial reinforcement. Several schedules of reinforcement are commonly used

1. Continuous Reinforcement Schedule: When a CRF is used, every correct response during
acquisition is reinforced. Usually in a partial reinforcement schedule study the animal is first
trained on a 100 percent reinforcement schedule and then switched to a partial reinforcement
schedule, it is difficult to bring about the acquisition of any response when partial reinforcement
is used during the initial training period.
2. Fixed Interval Reinforcement Schedule: when a FI is used the animal is reinforced for response
made only after a set interval of time. For example, only a response following a three-minute
interval is reinforced. At the beginning of the fixed time interval the animal responds slowly or
not at all. As the end of the time interval approaches, the animal gradually increases its speed of
responding, apparently anticipating the moment of reinforcement.
The behavior of an animal under this schedule is somewhat similar to the way a person behaves
as a deadline approaches. After putting off a certain task as long as possible, the due date is
rapidly approaching, and activity increases
3. Fixed Ratio Reinforcement Schedule: with a FR every nth response that the animal makes is
reinforced. FR5 for example means that the animal will be reinforced at every fifth response.
Here the important factor in determining when a response is reinforced is the number of
responses made. Theoretically, an animal on a fixed interval schedule could make just one
response at the end of the interval and be reinforced each time it responds. With a fixed ration
schedule this is not possible, the animal must respond a fixed number of times before it is
reinforced.
4. Variable Interval Reinforcement Schedule: With the VI the animal is reinforced for responses
made at the end if the time intervals of variable duration. That is rather than having a fixed time
interval as with FI schedules the animal is reinforced on the average of say every three minutes
but it may be reinforced immediately after a prior reinforcement or it may be reinforced after
thirty seconds or after seven minutes.
5. Variable Ratio Reinforcement Schedule: The VR eliminates the steplike cumulative recording
found with the FR schedule and produces the highest response rate of the five schedules
considered so far. With FR schedule an animal is reinforced after making a specific number of
responses, say five. With the VR5 schedule the animal is reinforced on the average of every five
responses, thus it may receive two reinforcers in a row or may take ten or fifteen responses
without being reinforced.
The VR reinforcement schedule is one governing the behavior of gamblers.
 6. Multiple Reinforcement Schedule: A multiple schedule consists of two or more independent
schedules presented successively to the subject, with each schedule signaled by a specific
discriminative stimulus. An example might be working for two bosses, given than one boss does
not care how much work you do as long as you sit at your desk all day long and the other boss
insists that you produce a specific number of units of work regardless of when you do them.
High rates of work will only appear in the presence of second boss.
7. Differential Reinforcement Schedules: Schedules that deliver reinforcement only for specific
patterns of responding are called differential schedules. There are three commonly used
schedules of this type
A. Differential Reinforcement of High Rates (DRH): the schedule which requires very rapid
responding for reinforcement to be available.
B. Differential Reinforcement of low Levels: the schedule which requires fairly low level of
responding for reinforcement to be available.
C. Differential Reinforcement of other responses (DRO): It makes reinforcement contingent
upon the emission of behaviors other than specified undesired behaviors. This is an
extremely useful schedule in controlling the disruptive behaviors of disturbed and or
retarded children.

Techniques of Behavior Therapy:

A strength of the behavioral approaches is the development of specific therapeutic procedures that
must be shown to be effective through objective means, the results of behavioral interventions become
clear because therapists receive continual direct feedback from their clients. A hallmark of the
behavioral approaches is that the therapeutic techniques are empirically supported and evidence-based
practice is highly valued. Behavioral therapy has been shown to be effective with many different
populations and for a wide array of disorders. Behavioral techniques can be incorporated in other
approaches as well.

The therapeutic procedures used by behavior therapists are specially designed for a particular client
rather than being randomly selected from a bag of techniques. Techniques used by behavioral therapists
are as follows;

Progressive Muscle Relaxation:

Progressive muscle relaxation has been increasingly popular as a method of teaching people cope with
the stresses produced by daily living, it is aimed at achieving muscle and mental relaxation and is easily
learned. After clients learn the basics of relaxation procedures, it is essential that they practice these
exercises daily to obtain maximum results.

Jacobson is credited with initially developing the progressive muscle relaxation procedure. It has since
been refined and modified and relaxation procedures are frequently used in combination with a number
of other behavioral techniques. PMR involves several components. Bernstein and Borkovec observe that
in PMR there is succession of events which must be observed with each muscle group. This tension-relax
cycle has five elements;

1. Focus, focusing attention on a specific muscle group

 2. Tense, tensing muscle group
3. Hold, maintaining the tension for five to seven seconds
4. Release, releasing the tension in the muscle group and
5. Relax, focusing attention on the letting go of tension and further relaxation of the muscle group.

Clients need to learn this focus-tense-hold-release-relax cycle so that they may apply it in their
homework.

Aversion Therapy: Rewards rather than punishments or negative consequences are usually favored in
therapy because they enhance self-esteem, optimism, and relationships. However, sometimes linking
undesirable behaviors with negative experiences motivates change. We must bear in mind that aversion
therapy is a risky intervention. Care must be exercised when planning and implementing aversion
therapy to be sure it does not have a negative emotional or physical impact and is respectful of people’s
right and choices. Done poorly aversion therapy can cause people to leave therapy prematurely, to feel
exploited and traumatized and to develop even more severe symptoms.

Techniques of Aversion Therapy:

 Antabuse: An emetic used to discourage people from consuming alcohol is a technique of

aversion therapy. Mixing drugs which cause nausea with alcohol so that when an individual
consumes alcohol starts to feel nausea.
 Time-Outs: this technique of aversion therapy is used to modify children’s behavior. Their
primary purpose is to give a child an opportunity to calm down and reflect.
 Visual Imagery: Visual imagery sometimes entails aversion therapy. For example, a woman who
wants to stop smoking might imagine herself having severe difficulty breathing or coping with a
smoking related disease.
 Satiation: Giving people excessive exposure to a negative stimulus or behaviors type of aversion
therapy. For example, the woman who wants to stop smoking might smoke a large number of
cigarettes in rapid succession until she feels ill.

Behavioral Rehearsal:

The rehearsal might involve a role play with the clinician or a practice session with a friend. Tape-
recording the rehearsal or observing oneself in the mirror while practicing the desired behavior offers
opportunities for feedback and improvement. This strategy gives people an opportunity to practice a
challenging task.

Behavioral rehearsal can be used for a wide variety of experiences. Making or refusing requests and
sharing positive and negative feelings with others lend themselves particularly well to behavioral
rehearsal. Behavioral rehearsal also can help people improve their social skills—for example, by
practicing ways to initiate and maintain conversation or invite other people to join them in social
activities.
Exposure:

Research has found that repeated contact with a feared or avoided stimulus will result in adaptation. In
other words, the more exposure one has to a fearful object the less fear one will experience. In contrast
avoidance of the feared object serves to reinforce the fear and actually increases the resulting anxiety.

Flooding:

Flooding like aversion therapy, is a high-risk intervention that must be with caution, and only by
clinicians who are well versed in the appropriate use of this strategy. In flooding people are exposed to
high doses of a feared stimulus in the expectation that this will desensitize them in the feared stimulus.
An example is putting a person with a fear of balloons in a room full of balloons. The person must
remain in the feared situation long enough for the fear to peak and then diminish. If the person leaves
the situation prematurely the fear may worsen and person may learn to fear those who staged flooding.
In addition the fear may lead the person to act in unsafe ways.

Modelling:

The therapeutic use of modeling is based chiefly on the work of Bandura. Modeling as a therapeutic
technique occurs when a client observes the behavior of another person and makes use of that
observation. Learning how the model performs the behavior and what happens to the model as a
consequence of learning the behavior are both part of the technique,

In behavior therapy the five basic functions of modeling are;

a) Teaching: modeling can occur by teaching through demonstration for example, watching
someone throw a baseball or peel an apple
b) Prompting: modeling can serve as a prompt, such as when a child struts like drum major,
imitating his behavior
c) Motivating: by reinforcing modeling behavior people can motivate others to perform that
behavior such as when a parent makes a game of cleaning a room, so that the child can see how
the task can be enjoyable.
d) Reducing anxiety: Anxiety reduction can occur as a result of modeling, a=such as when a child
goes into the water after having watched another child do so, thus reducing a fear of water
e) Discouraging; an individual can be discouraged from continuing behavior, such as when a
smoker watches a graphic film of a patient smoking and gradually dying from lung cancer.

Modeling are five types which are as follows;

a) Live Modeling: Basically, Live modeling refers to watching a model sometimes the therapist
performs a specific behavior. Often the modeling is repeated a number of times and then after
having observed the modeling the client repeats the observed behavior several times.
 b) Symbolic Modeling: often live model is not available or would be inconvenient so symbolic
modeling is used. Common examples of symbolic modeling are films or videotapes of
appropriate behavior. Individuals are observed indirectly rather than in person.
c) Self-Modeling: Sometimes it is helpful to videotape a client performing the target behavior in a
desired way. A videotape can be made on a child’s appropriate behavior to show it latter and
that videotape can be used as a modeling tool to replace behaviors which are inappropriate with
appropriate.
d) Participant Modeling: Sometimes it is helpful for the therapist to model a behavior for the client
and then guide the client in using the behavior-participant modeling. If a client is afraid of
climbing ladders, the therapist can model the behavior by first climbing the ladder. Then using
an adjoining ladder, the therapist can help the client climb a ladder while offering
encouragement and physical support when necessary.
e) Covert Modeling: Sometimes when a model can not be observed it may be helpful to have a
client visualize a model’s behavior. In covert modeling the therapist describes a situation for the
client to imagine

Assertiveness Training:

The major tenet of assertiveness training is that a person should be free to express thoughts and
feelings appropriately without feeling under anxiety. The technique consists of counterconditioning
anxiety and reinforcing assertiveness. A client is taught that everyone has the right of self-expression.
The client then learns the differences among aggressive passive and assertive actions.

Contingency Management:

Contingency contracts spell out the behaviors to be performed, changed or discontinued. The rewards
associated with the achievement of these goals and the conditions under which rewards are to be
received.

Systematic Desensitization:

Developed by joseph Wolpe (1958) systematic desensitization was designed to treat clients who
presented with extreme anxiety or fear toward specific events, people or objects or had generalized
anxiety or fears. The basic approach is to have clients replace their anxious feelings with relaxation. The
desensitization process involves three steps.

a) Teach the client relaxation responses that compete with and replace anxiety
b) The events that make the client anxious are assessed and arranged by degrees of anxiety
c) Have the client imagine anxiety-evoking situations while being relaxed.
Repeated in gradual manner so that relaxation is paired with thoughts of events that had previously
evoked anxiety, the client is systematically desensitized to situations that had previously created
anxiety.

Three Procedures of systematic desensitization

Relaxation: Progressive muscle relaxation has been increasingly popular as a method of teaching people
cope with the stresses produced by daily living, it is aimed at achieving muscle and mental relaxation
and is easily learned. After clients learn the basics of relaxation procedures, it is essential that they
practice these exercises daily to obtain maximum results.

Jacobson is credited with initially developing the progressive muscle relaxation procedure. It has since
been refined and modified and relaxation procedures are frequently used in combination with a number
of other behavioral techniques. PMR involves several components. Bernstein and Borkovec observe that
in PMR there is succession of events which must be observed with each muscle group. This tension-relax
cycle has five elements;

1. Focus, focusing attention on a specific muscle group

2. Tense, tensing muscle group
3. Hold, maintaining the tension for five to seven seconds
4. Release, releasing the tension in the muscle group and
5. Relax, focusing attention on the letting go of tension and further relaxation of the muscle group.

Clients need to learn this focus-tense-hold-release-relax cycle so that they may apply it in their
homework.

Anxiety Hierarchies: obtaining detailed and highly specific information about events that causes a clients
to become anxious is the essence of constructing and anxiety hierarchy. Often several hierarchies
representing different fears are constructed. After describing the events that elicits anxiety, client then
list them in order from least anxiety evoking to most anxiety evoking. This is often called be assigning a
number from 0 to 100 to each event. In this way a subjective units of discomfort scale is developed, with
0 representing total relaxation and 100 representing extremely high anxiety. These units are subjective
and apply only to the individual. As systematic desensitization progresses events that originally had high
SUD ratings have lower SUDs ratings.

Desensitization: Although the relaxation process may not be fully mastered, the desensitization
procedures can start. During the first desensitization session the therapists asks clients after they are
relaxed how many SUDs they are experiencing. If the level is too high above 25 relaxation is continued.
The first scene presented is a neutral one, such as a flower against a background. This provides an
opportunity for the therapist to gauge how well the client is able to imagine or visualize.
Although commonly used with anxiety, desensitization has also been used in working with anger,
asthmatic attacks, insomnia, nightmares, problems drinking, speech disorder and other problems.

Strength and Contribution: among the unique and strong aspects of the behavioral approach are the
following;

 The approach deals directly with symptoms. Because most clients seek help for specific
problems, counselors who work directly with symptoms are often able to assist clients
immediately
 The approach in the here and now. A client does not have to examine the past in obtain to help
in the present. A behavioral approach saves both time and money
 The offers numerous techniques for counselors to use.
 The approach is based on learning theory, which is a well formulated way of documenting how
new behaviors are acquired
 The approach is buttressed by the association for behavioral and cognitive therapists, which
promotes the practice of behavioral counseling methods.
 The approach is supported by exceptionally good research on how behavioral techniques affect
the process of counselling
 The approach is objective in defining and dealing with problems and demystifies the process of
counselling.

Limitations: the behavioral approach has several limitations, among which are the following

 The approach does not deal with the total person, just explicit behavior. Critics contend that
many behaviorists have taken the person out of personality
 The approach is sometimes applied mechanically
 The approach is best demonstrated under controlled conditions that may be difficult to replicate
in normal therapeutic situations.
 The approach ignores the client’s past history and unconscious forces
 The approach does not consider developmental stages
 The approach programs the client toward minimum or tolerable levels of behaving. Reinforces
conformity, stifles creativity and ignores client need for self-fulfillment, self-actualization and
feelings of self-worth.