Psychotherapy Modalities

Such techniques in classical psychotherapy involve free association, dream analysis, and others which are used to help investigate the unconscious of the individual. Getting the patient in touch with feelings and emotions is important in classical psychoanalysis, and the aim is not directed at changing behavior as much as it is helping individuals become more whole psychologically by dealing with repressed or sublimated emotions and feelings. As one family therapist who uses classical psychoanalytic techniques states “The aim is not primarily that of changing a piece of behavior so much as helping the family members to become more whole in themselves and differentiated from each other” (Box 708).

In psychodynamic therapy the mental and emotional processes underlying human behavior and its motivation are the focus of investigation, but the focus is on how present emo

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eel adequately equipped or prepared for the problems of life” (Drake 617). Behavior Therapy Unlike classical psychoanalysis, the aim of behavior therapy founded on work by Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B. F. Skinner, is changing behavior. Based on Pavlov’s experiments with salivating dogs, Skinner devised a behavior therapy that utilized the stimulus-response mechanism to help modify behavior. Through concepts and techniques like positive and negative reinforcement, punishment, and reward, behavior is modified through a series of steps designed to change negative and destructive behavior patterns. The main contrast between psychotherapy and behavior therapy is that behaviorism advocates that “psychologists abandon the study of consciousness altogether and focus exclusively on behaviors that they could directly observe” (Drake 617). Behaviorism also emphasizes the importance of the environment on human behavior. The main goal of the behavioral psychologist is to relate here-and-now behaviors (responses) to events in the individual’s environment (stimuli). Many individuals remain opposed to behaviorism because they argue that eliminating consciousness from psychological study relegates human beings to the animal level. Still,
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Approximate Word count = 1221
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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