Another radical departure from Freudian theory was behavioural Therapy, the work of B F Skinner (1904-1990). Skinner was inspired by the work of earlier scientists like Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) whose experiments on animals laid the foundations for ‘operant conditioning’. This is the theory that animals and humans learn to associate specific behaviours with specific stimuli – which may be nothing to do with the original stimulus that the behaviour was at first a response to.

Skinner’s ideas were diametrically opposed to Freud’s. In essence he said that what went on in the mind was irrelevant; people were essentially ‘black boxes’ and that all that mattered was finding the right rewards and disincentives to change behaviour. His theories were immensely influential in the earlier half of the 20th century and he has been criticised for taking an essentially inhumane and controlling attitude towards changing human behaviour.

Much of what Skinner said has since been scientifically disproved, as more subtle ways of measuring the activity of the human mind proved that internal thought processes and emotional states were just as important in modifying and controlling behaviour as external stimuli.

However a modified version of behaviourism, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which treated thought patterns also as ‘behaviours’ that could be modified by therapists, was developed and now forms one of the strongest traditions of therapy in the UK.

Although relationship skills between therapist and client are as important for CBT therapists to have as any therapist, CBT therapists’ relationship to clients is more like that of a teacher or instructor who helps them develop more positive thought patterns and less self-destructive behaviours.  CBT therapists will both work directly with suggesting alternatives to the negative and repetitive thought patterns that characterise so much anxiety and depression (e.g. “If I receive a rejection it means no one likes me”), and will also give clients ‘homework’ so that they can expose themselves to stimuli (e.g. the object of a phobia) in measured ‘doses’ and can try out different ways of reacting to them.

CBT is especially useful for anxiety states, phobias and so on, but also has a proven track record of helping people with depression. Because (see above) it is one of the most widely-researched types of psychotherapy, it is also one of the types most easily accessible via NHS referral. It may not be so useful for people who have had therapy before or who have issues to do with their relationships with others that may need longer-term work.

CBT is quite a specialised form of therapy and you should only go to a therapist who is qualified to practise it.

Contact

British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies – http://www.babcp.com/ - 01254 875277 - babcp@babcp.com . Website has a directory of CBT therapists in the UK.