Experiments in Behaviour Therapy

Experiments in Behavior Therapy: Readings in Modern Methods of Treatment of Mental Disorders Derived from Learning Theory focuses on experiments involving the application of modern theories of learning and conditioning to behavior disorders. The selection first offers information on the nature of behavior and systematic desensitization treatment of neuroses. Discussions focus on the technique of systematic desensitization, examples of hierarchies from actual cases, and desensitization procedure. The text then ponders on experimental desensitization of a phobia, treatment by a method derived from experimental psychology, and treatment of anxiety and phobic reactions by systematic desensitization psychotherapy. The publication examines the treatment of chronic frigidity by systematic desensitization, application of reciprocal inhibition therapy to exhibitionism, and group therapy of phobic disorders by systematic desensitization. The isolation of a conditioning procedure as the crucial psychotherapeutic factor; application of learning principles to the treatment of obsessive-compulsive states in the acute and chronic phases of illness; and case of homosexuality treated by aversion therapy are also discussed. The selection is a dependable source of data for readers interested in behavior therapy.