BEHAVIOURAL COUNSELLING SPECIFIC TECHNIQUES

APPROACHES TO COUNSELLING

1. APPROACHES TO COUNSELLING BEHAVIOURAL COUNSELLING SPECIFIC TECHNIQUES

2. BEHAVIOURAL COUNSELLING The behaviour approach has its beginnings in the 1950s and early 1960s. It started as a school of thought disagreeing and departing from the widely popular psychoanalytic approach. The theory of behaviour therapy is based on the belief that all our values, attitudes, preferences, emotional response, thinking patterns, personality styles, and problems are the result of learned behavior. Hence a systematic and scientific approach is used to identify specific behaviours that need to be changed , set desirable and achievable goals, collect data on client’s functioning levels, design a behaviour modification module, decrease client’s resistance, modify distracting variables, monitor the impact of module and make changes if required in the treatment plan.

3. For example, if a behavioral therapist is working with a client that has an alcohol problem, the behavioral therapist will design a program to eliminate the behavior of drinking — but there would be no focus on the issues or pathological symptoms causing the alcohol problem. There are a number of techniques used in behavior therapy that have been scientifically validated as being successful approaches to treating symptoms. Some of the specific techniques which we are going to discuss below are :- RELAXATION SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION ASSERTIVENESS TRAINING

4. RELAXATION TECHNIQUE Anxiety is an emotion that activates physical responses in our body, such as a change in heartbeat, breath frequency and muscle tension. As a consequence, our heart beats faster to pump more oxygen to the muscles, our main muscles contract for increased strength and speed and we may perceive troubles breathing due to the contraction of the muscles of the chest. The patient is taught different types of techniques by their therapist and is encouraged to practice as much as possible in their daily life to master stress and anxiety and keep them under control in stressful situations . The most common techniques, you may find are slow breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, isometric relaxation and relaxation through guided imagery.

5. SLOW BREATHING Slow breathing, as the name itself suggests, helps you thwart hyperventilation through constant breathing at a particular frequency . PROGRESSIVE AND ISOMETRIC RELAXATION P rogressive muscle relaxation and isometric relaxation focus on relaxing the muscles of our body, alternating contraction and relaxation of specific muscles. Clients are given a set of instructions that teaches them to relax. They assume a passive and relaxed posture in a quite environment while alternatively contracting and relaxing the muscles. This technique is explicitly taught to the client by the therapist. Deep and regular breathing also is associated with producing relaxation Ex- yoga ,cave. The relaxation phase teaches an awareness of what absence of tension feels like (and that it can be induced by passively releasing tension in the muscle)

6. RELAXATION THROUGH GUIDED IMAGERY Guided imaginary allows you to relax through imagination, visualizing yourself in a peaceful state and place instead along with deep breathing. BENEFITS OF RELAXATION TECHNIQUES ARE- Promotes relaxation. decreases levels of muscle tension (muscle tension can occur when stressed, angry, nervous etc.) increases overall awareness of muscle tension. used to successfully intervene with physical disorders such as: *Insomnia *Hypertension *Headaches *Lower Back Pain * Anxiety

7. SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION Systematic desensitization, also desensitization therapy, is a technique used to treat phobias and other extreme or erroneous fears based on principles of behavior modification. Basically, it’s a therapy procedure for reducing anxiety, fears and phobias (what you’re scared of) to the point that you can “face your worst fear ”. Once it is determined that systematic desensitization is an appropriate form of treatment, a three step process unfolds- 1) Relaxation training 2) Development of a graduated anxiety hierarchy, and Systematic desensitization proper that involves the presentation of hierarchy items while the client is in a deeply relaxed state . EX- • imagine Talking about spiders • Looking at a picture of a spider • Looking at an actual spider not moving, in a cage, from a distance • Looking at an actual spider, not moving, in a cage, getting closer • Looking at a moving spider in a cage • Looking at a moving spider outside of a cage • Reaching for the spider • Petting the spider • Holding the spider in your hands.

8. SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION Treatment ends when the client is able to remain in a relaxed state while i magining the scene that was formerly the most disturbing and anxiety-producing . Two types of methods used in systematic desensitization are: In-vivo exposure: In vivo exposure involves client exposure to the actual anxiety-evoking events rather than simply imagining these situations, under carefully controlled conditions, to the situations that contributed to such problems . Eg -Fear of flight take off, getting in lift. In-vivo flooding : In vivo flooding consists of intense and prolonged exposure to the actual anxiety-producing stimuli. Remaining exposed to feared stimuli for a prolonged period without engaging in any anxiety-reducing behaviors allows the anxiety to decrease on its own .

9. ASSERTIVENESS TRAINING Assertiveness is behavior that enables individuals to : Act in their own bests interests Stand up for themselves without undue anxiety Express their honest feelings comfortably Exercise their own rights without denying the rights of others. Assertion training one specialized form of social skill training consists of teaching people how to be assertive in a variety of social situations. Many people have difficulty feeling that it is appropriate or right to assert themselves. People who lack social skills frequently experience interpersonal difficulties at home, at work, at school and during leisure time . Eg - door mat, bullied kids.

10. Assertion training can be useful for those – Who have difficulty expressing anger or irritation Who have difficulty saying no Who are overly polite and allow others to take advantage of them. Who find it difficult to express affection and other positive responses Who feel they do not have a right to express their thoughts, beliefs, and feelings Who have social phobias The therapist both teaches and models the desired behavior the client wants to acquire . These behaviors are practiced in the therapy office and then enacted in everyday life. Most assertion training programs focus on client’s negative self-statements, self-defeating beliefs and faulty thinking .

11. People often behave in unassertive ways because they don’t think they have a right to state a viewpoint or ask for what they want or deserve. This type of thinking leads to passive behaviour . “My feelings don’t matter – only yours do. My thoughts aren’t important – yours are the only ones worth listening to. I’m nothing – you’re superior ”. Effective assertion training programme do more than give people skills and techniques for dealing with difficult situations. These programmes challenge people’s belief that accompany their lack of assertiveness and teach them to make constructive self-statements and to adopt a new set of beliefs that will result in assertive behavior. ASSERTIVENESS TRAINING INCLUDES- * Body-language awareness * Role-plays * Awareness of other people’s perceptions and so work in sensitivity groups and encounter the feelings.( eg - behavior in bus) * Looking at situations in the past where one was, or was not assertive.

12. EVALUATION Behavior therapy is one of the action-oriented methods that help people change the way they think and do things. It started as a school of thought disagreeing and departing from the widely popular psychoanalytic approach. Behaviour therapy applied its principles of classical and operant conditioning to the treatment of problem behaviors. Modern behavior therapy focuses on giving control to the clients and help increase their skills to overcome the debilitating behaviors. The theory of behavior therapy is based on the belief that all our values, attitudes, preferences, emotional response, thinking patterns, personality styles, and problems are the result of learned behavior. In this perspective, a maladjusted person is seen as (a) having failed to acquire appropriate coping skills, (b) having learned faulty coping patterns which has maintained by some kind of reinforcement, or (c) both . .

13. Human behavior is shaped, reinforced and molded by the world around us. Hence a systematic and scientific approach is used to identify specific behaviors that- need to be changed , set desirable and achievable, collect data on client’s functioning levels, design a behaviour modification module, decrease client’s resistance, modify distracting variables, monitor the impact of module and make changes if required in the treatment plan.

14. A cornerstone of behavior therapy is identifying specific goals at the outset of the therapeutic process. In helping clients achieve their goals, behaviour therapists typically assume an active and directive role. Although the client generally determines what behavior will be changed, the therapist typically determines how this behavior can best be modified Thus Behavior Therapy refers to a range of treatments and techniques which are used to change an individual's maladaptive responses to specific situations which can often alleviate psychological distress and psychiatric problems of the person