Home > Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine > Behavioral Therapy

Definition

Behavioral therapy, or behavioral modification, is a psychological technique based on the premise that specific, observable, maladaptive, badly adjusted, or self-destructing behaviors can be modified by learning new, more appropriate behaviors to replace them.

Origins

Reward and punishment systems have been used throughout recorded history in an attempt to influence behavior, from child rearing to the criminal justice system. Modern behavioral therapy began in the 1950s with the work of B.F. Skinner and Joseph Wolpe. Wolpe treated his patients who suffered from phobias with a technique he developed called systematic desensitization. Systematic desensitization involved gradually exposing a patient to an anxiety-provoking stimuli until the anxiety...