This week’s readings will review in detail some of the most common behavioral interventions. Some of them were developed to have a concrete, structured way to help clients with depression and anxiety, but they can be used whenever we would like to engage clients in tasks or activities they find difficult to initiate by themselves. As a general warning, I recommend to use these techniques only after you devote enough time to exploring the client’s difficulties, understanding how they function and what gets them “stuck”. Introducing a behavioral intervention too soon may make the client feel more “passive”, waiting on us to find a direction, or otherwise clients might not be able to engage in the activity right away and therefore feel like a failure.
As you complete the readings, address the following questions:
1. Based on your overall understanding, what is the main purpose of behavioral interventions, in general? What makes these interventions “behavioral” (as opposed to cognitive, or psychodynamic)?
2. Select one of the methods explained in the chapter, summarize it and list one potential problem in its implementation.
3. Think about a patient/client you are seeing as part of your practicum (or you can even use yourself!). How would you use the technique you chose and summarized above? Do you think it would succeed? If not, how could you modify it so that the client/patient has a higher chance of success and compliance?