Self-instructional training takes into account the fact that people consciously or unconsciously engage in internal dialogues all the time. Self-talk of a demotivating, fearful and negative nature leads to corresponding emotions and behaviors. On the other hand, whoever succeeds in talking to themselves in a different, more encouraging, more motivating way internally through targeted self-instruction training, prepares the conditions to be able to act differently externally.
What is the self-instruction training?
Self-instruction training aims to use rehearsed self-instructions to guide a person’s behavior so that they can better manage their everyday demands. Donald W. Meichenbaum developed this coping technique in the 1970s. It was triggered by the observation of schizophrenic patients who were better able to cope with tasks set for them if they repeated the relevant instructions. In the course of such “self-talk” or monologues, one and the same person is both the sender and the receiver of his or her own messages. According to Meichenbaum, mental disorders are also maintained by the way in which these inner monologues take place. Problematic, unsettling, and out-of-touch-with-reality speech to oneself elicits correspondingly negative emotions and behaviors. These can not only perpetuate mental disorders but, in Meichenbaum’s view, also give rise to them in the first place. Conversely, the controlling content of positively guiding self-instructions supports the development of healthy self-confidence. Patients are more likely to help themselves achieve an appropriate perception of reality and an appropriately adjusted emotional state with encouraging, affirming instructions.
Function, effect, and goals
Meichenbaum first applied his action-regulating coping technique in training with children who had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He also achieved particular success with this methodology with boys and girls with aggression problems. In self-instruction training, impulsively acting children learn to perceive alternative behaviors with the aid of language in the form of self-instructions. Meichenbaum designed a five-step model in the 1970s for the practical application of this training. First, a model makes the desired target behavior explicit under comments spoken aloud. Then the children are guided by the trainer in the execution of the set tasks by means of loudly pronounced instructions. At the third stage, the child repeats the task by already instructing himself step-by-step aloud. Building on this, the exercise is repeated with only whispered self-instruction. At the fifth and final stage of the model, the child silently directs his behavior to implement the task. Self-instruction works because the inner self-talk can be influenced in a very specific way. By giving specific instructions, a person can focus on how he or she wants to perceive and master a particular situation. Accordingly, the inner dialogue is first and foremost directed at determining the problem. The person analyzes the requirement set before him and asks himself “What should I do?” The second step is the repetition of the task in one’s own words in order to define the exact requirements, the planning of the project. The third step concerns step-by-step implementation, accompanied by loud, motivational thinking. The fourth stage is a self-controlling, focusing review of the result. Corrections can be made at any time, if necessary, by stepping back to the previous stage of the model. The fifth step concludes the model with self-reinforcing self-praise and thus enables the reinforcement of the positive experience of having worked on a task independently and having completed it successfully. In the end, the goal is for the person to be his or her own therapist, determining his or her emotions and especially his or her behavior, independent of external guidance. With children, on the other hand, the use of an obvious reward system is important. Thoughtful, concentrated, careful action is to be specifically rewarded by the trainer as desirable behavior in ADHD children.Self-instruction training is nowadays supplemented with the use of signal cards, which are intended to guide children to recite to themselves the instructions symbolically depicted on the cards: pause, think, concentrate, reflect. Self-instruction training is used today, in addition to ADHD therapy, especially for anxiety disorders. It also achieves success in the therapeutic treatment of depression, reducing anger, building frustration tolerance, as well as in pain conditions and in preparing for stressful situations.
Risks, side effects, and dangers
ADHD sufferers in particular have a variety of associated mental disorders that result in frequent functional impairments. Anxiety disorders, tics, partial performance deficits, social behavior disorders, and even regular alcohol and drug abuse impair the social relationships, self-esteem, personality development, and prospects for career development of those affected. Complementary interventions are needed here, since self-instructional training offers little prospect of success in the case of such complex disorders. Measured against the fact that self-instructions can only ever be mediators between stimulus and reaction, they can also only control emotions and behavior to a limited extent. The change of problematic “inner dialogues” by training in favor of a change of attitude can therefore in most cases of mental disorders only be an accompanying therapy, a support, but not an exclusive method of treatment. The therapeutic treatment of people with schizophrenia, with aggression disorders and panic attacks will not be crowned with lasting success without at least temporary pharmacological intervention. Meichenbaum himself understood early on that self-instructional training can be very well combined with other therapeutic approaches to anxiety management. The stress inoculation training he also developed in the 1970s is based on self-instruction. It enables patients with anxiety situational expectations to develop and apply appropriate anxiety management skills. Last but not least, Donald Meichenbaum is familiar today primarily as a co-founder of cognitive behavioral therapy, in which control of internal dialogues is only part of the therapeutic repertoire.
