“Some Psychologists claim that behavioural therapies are unethical and of limited value because they treat symptoms rather than causes” Discuss behavioural therapies for treating mental disorders with reference to those such as those raised in the quote above (30 marks) The behavioural model of abnormality makes a number of assumptions in relation to the causes of abnormal behaviour. Firstly the model assumes that inappropriate behaviour is learned and therefore it can be ‘unlearned’ and more appropriate behaviours learnt instead.
Two ways behaviourists believe that behaviour is learnt is through classical and operant conditioning, and as a result various therapies have stemmed from these methods of learning. From classical conditioning, where behaviour is learnt through association the therapies such as implosion, flooding, aversion therapy and systematic desensitisation have been developed. Implosion and flooding are similar techniques used with anxiety-producing disorders. Both therapies expose the client to the feared experience but in slightly different ways.
Implosion does this with the therapist getting the client to imagine their worst fears (for example, imagining they are in a room full of spiders), the anxiety created by this is as a result gradually reduced as the patient learns that no harm is coming to them and so the phobia will eventually disappear. Flooding is similar, however with flooding the client is exposed to the real fearful situation (so they may have to actually hold a spider rather than just imagine one).
Again as the client comes to no harm, the client will then learn not to be scared of the fearful situation. Systematic desensitization is then less dramatic and as the name suggests more systematic. It is argued that relaxation and anxiety cannot co-exist and the therapy begins with the patient being encouraged to relax. In this state the anxiety producing object or event is slowly introduced, whether through imagining the fearful situation, watching a film or actually experiencing the fearful situation.
The therapist designs a hierarchy to work through with the patient with easier tasks to overcome at the bottom and the ultimate goal at the top. They patient and therapist then systematically work through this hierarchy. From operant conditioning the therapy of token economies has been developed. A token economy changes behaviour by reinforcing good behaviour with ‘tokens’. The token is a secondary reinforcer, which is later exchanged for a primary reinforcer, for example a chocolate bar or other treat.
These behavioural therapies are appropriate for a number of disorders, in particular anxiety disorders such as phobias and OCD. Token economies are also particularly suited to treating eating disorders. Flooding and Implosion however are not suitable for children. A benefit of both classical and operant conditioning therapies, are that they are short in duration making them cheaper and more accessible to people unlike treatments such as psychoanalysis under the psychodynamic model which take a long time. These therapies can also be tailored to suit an individual patients needs.