Question

What does behavior therapy believe about human nature?

Answer 1

• The premise of behavior therapy includes the reorganization of an individuals own statements and beliefs to develop congruence with his or her behavior. A relationship exists between cognitions, emotions, and behaviors that create cause and effect in how the individual experiences events and situations.
• Human nature, from a behavioral perspective, defines individuals as having the potential for rational and irrational thinking. This thinking result in the behavior that is often identified as the problem or issue when, in reality, it is the symptom of faulty thinking.
• In modern behavior therapy, the current view is that the person is the producer and the product of their environment. Behavior therapy aims to increase people’s skills so that they have more options for responding.
• By overcoming debilitating behaviors that restrict choices, people are freer to select from possibilities that were not available earlier. Thus, as behavior therapy is typically applied, it will increase individual freedom.
• Faulty thinking begins during childhood as children hear and adopt indoctrinated thoughts that are heard from their parents. As they repeat these thoughts, dysfunctional attitudes and beliefs are kept alive and begin to affect how individuals behave.
• The intervention has a number of techniques however; the underlying therapeutic goal is to teach clients to separate the evaluation of their behavior from their evaluation of themselves.
• Learning acceptance of self regardless of imperfections is the essence of therapy. Therapists proceed with counseling attempting to identify faulty thinking of clients and assist them to abandon their irrational thinking and develop a rational groundwork for life.