Question

This writing assignment will involve implementing and analyzing a behavior modification program on yourself. The behavior is ANXIETY OF MEETING NEW PEOPLE. This assignment is to develop your own functional behavior assessment. A minimum of 3 paragraphs per question is required.

Modification Plan: In this section, you need to describe your assessment and intervention plan. How will you collect data on the behavior in order to evaluate whether or not it is changing? Describe any forms or graphs you plan to use. What behavior modification technique or techniques will you use? If you had someone else involved (for example, giving rewards) who else was involved and what did that person do. You may feel free to create your own rating and self-monitoring forms. Be creative but please note that the plan is to effectively "modify" the target behavior. You are more than welcome to reference the scientific literature (including our textbook) to get behavior modification ideas (three paragraphs or so).

The Data: Your program should consist of two phases. First, collect some baseline data for at least a week. What is the frequency or intensity of the behavior before you started your behavior modification program? Second, collect some treatment data for at least a week. The data does not have to be "real." In other words, please draw a a hypothetical line graph that shows both baseline and treatment phases how the data would "look like." You are also more than welcome to use tables to present how your behavior changed from baseline to treatment. Please do NOT just attach graphs. You need to analyze and summarize the data in this plan (a graph, table, and detailed explanation.

Answer 1

The assessment and intervention plan in this regard will comprise of standardised tests to decipher whether or not an individual suffers from anxiety in ambiguous/uncertain situations. Once the comprehensive picture along this theme is identified, modification techniques need to be used in areas where any thought distortions or skewed perspective is observed. Upon meeting new people, a person may be sub-consciously surrounded by negative/unpleasant thoughts. In fact scientific research iterates that strong interpersonal relationship is a result of familiarization or close proximity as well. This means that when people are unfamiliar towards something/individual, unpleasant thoughts are automatically likely to arise. More proximity then slowly tends to fade away these unpleasant thoughts or affect. This affect is driven from an unconscious fear of the unknown. A graph can be used to plot the situations in which the person undergoes anxiety/nervousness as well. This will then facilitate the creation of an intervention plan which is in line with the areas of concern that the person is faced with. Behaviour modification techniques could comprise of cognitive-behaviour therapy. It is the most widely used technique to deal with anxiety disorders. The behavioural techniques include relaxing methods to calm one’s mind and free it from the negative/unpleasant thoughts. These thoughts are first to be uncovered and brought to the surface and later rationalised, challenged, confronted, and finally a new way of looking at the same scenario is highlighted in order t provide fresh perspectives which are more adaptive in nature. Better coping and problem solving skills are slowly taught to the client so that they can eventually build better resilience to deal with their everyday situations. Also, depending on the type of anxiety, the intervention will be planned. For instance if a person suffers from OCD, the treatment plan will be different from that of a phobia. In case of a phobia exposure or systematic desensitization are certain techniques that are used for intervention. In case of CBT, the thought-feeling-action cycle is decoded to the client and they are psycho-educated about how these three are closely inter-linked. Later, the client is encouraged to monitor their own thoughts and decipher which ones are adaptive or maladaptive. A thought diary is one of the ways through which this can be accomplished. Once this is done, at a later point in therapy when there is adequate rapport (therapeutic alliance) built with the client, the maladaptive thoughts are challenged and confronted; alternative perspectives are to be generated. Every time the client is faced with a similar situation later, they are asked to refer back to this new perspective and approach the situation anew.