Behavior Therapy

Catalog description

This course will systematically review the principles of classical and operant conditioning and consider the ways in which they can be applied to the mental health disorders. Students will first consider those cases with a clear stimulus-response link (e.g., the anxiety disorders) before moving on to consider the ways in which these basic principles can inform the treatment of more complicated presenting problems. Although discrete behavioral techniques will be covered, students will also learn that behavior therapy is best conceptualized as an empirically-informed set of principles that guide many treatment approaches, even those usually considered apart from behavior therapy (e.g., psychodynamic, experiential approaches). The course will also provide an introduction to the so-called third wave behavioral approaches, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).