Behaviourism and Functional Analytic Psychotherapy
Within the psychology sphere, many ideas, concepts and theories have been established and are being developed to explain behaviour, attitudes, and events. These are adopted by various professionals in the field of psychology and are often expanded to aid them in client-therapist situations. In this field, a paradigm that I find to be particularly interesting and useful is Behaviourism. From this school of thought I have chosen to discuss one of its practical applications; Functional Analytical psychotherapy.
What is Functional Analytical Psychotherapy?
Functional Analytical Psychotherapy (FAP) was developed by Robert Kohlenberg and Mavis Tsai and is based on B.F. Skinner’s approach to human behaviour. In comparison to cognitive-behavioural treatments, FAP results in a much more intense and personal psychotherapy relationship (Functional Analytic Psychotherapy, 2010). Its contextualistic approach seeks to understand behaviour with the notion that “one’s perception of reality is the product of the context in which such perceiving occurs” (Tsai, Kohlenberg, Kanter, Kolenberg, Follette, Callaghan, 2008). FAP stands firm to the belief that human beings all own unique experiential histories and should be treated accordingly. (Tsai et al., 2008)
There are numerous possible causes for behaviour that, as mentioned earlier, can be accounted for depending on the specific context in which it occurs. FAP strives to uncover the causes of behaviour by applying a functional analysis. Tsai et al., (2008) refer to three types of stimuli behind behaviour that are of concern. These are;
1. Reinforcement
Reinforcement refers to the presence or removal of a stimulus, in other words, the consequences that occur after the behaviour and affect the future frequency or probability of that behaviour.
2. Discriminative stimuli
This refers to the circumstances under which these behaviours are reinforced and thus results in the increased or decreased frequency of this
What is Functional Analytical Psychotherapy?
Functional Analytical Psychotherapy (FAP) was developed by Robert Kohlenberg and Mavis Tsai and is based on B.F. Skinner’s approach to human behaviour. In comparison to cognitive-behavioural treatments, FAP results in a much more intense and personal psychotherapy relationship (Functional Analytic Psychotherapy, 2010). Its contextualistic approach seeks to understand behaviour with the notion that “one’s perception of reality is the product of the context in which such perceiving occurs” (Tsai, Kohlenberg, Kanter, Kolenberg, Follette, Callaghan, 2008). FAP stands firm to the belief that human beings all own unique experiential histories and should be treated accordingly. (Tsai et al., 2008)
There are numerous possible causes for behaviour that, as mentioned earlier, can be accounted for depending on the specific context in which it occurs. FAP strives to uncover the causes of behaviour by applying a functional analysis. Tsai et al., (2008) refer to three types of stimuli behind behaviour that are of concern. These are;
1. Reinforcement
Reinforcement refers to the presence or removal of a stimulus, in other words, the consequences that occur after the behaviour and affect the future frequency or probability of that behaviour.
2. Discriminative stimuli
This refers to the circumstances under which these behaviours are reinforced and thus results in the increased or decreased frequency of this
References: About.com: Psychology. (2012). What is Behaviourism? Retrieved from http://www.psychology.about.com/od/behaviouralpsychology/f/behaviourism.htm Functional Analytic Psychotherapy. (2010). What is FAP? Retrieved from http://functionalanalyticalpsychotherapy.com Jordaan, W. (2012). Theories and Paradigms. Department of Psychology, University of Pretoria. Kohlenberg, R.J. & Tsai, M. (n.d.). Functional analytic psychotherapy: A radical behavioural approach to treatment and integration. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. 4. 175-177. Retrieved from http://www.functionalanalyticpsychotherapy.com/integration.pdf Tsai, M., Kohlenberg, R.J., Kanter, J.W., Kolenberg, B., Follette, W.C., Callaghan, G.M. (2008). A Guide to Functional Analytic Psychotherapy: Awareness, Courage, Love and Behaviourism. Springer.