While a few years ago mental illness was a taboo subject, today mental health problems and psychotherapies are increasingly being reported more openly. Cognitive behavioral therapy is often advised for mental illness. But what is actually behind behavioral therapy?
Behavioral therapy as part of psychotherapy
Nowadays, an unmanageable variety of therapeutic offers promises help in alleviating psychological complaints. However, not all psychotherapeutic treatment offers that one can take advantage of are recognized as curative treatment. Behavioral therapy is one of the few forms of psychotherapy whose effectiveness has been scientifically proven many times over. Behavioral therapy is, along with psychoanalytic psychotherapy and depth psychological psychotherapy, one of three psychotherapeutic directions whose treatment costs are covered by health insurance in Germany.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
Behavioral therapy emerged around the middle of the 20th century and was initially strongly oriented to externally visible, “disturbed” behavior of patients. It quickly became clear, however, that not only a patient’s behavior but also his or her thoughts and feelings needed to be changed in order to treat a mental illness in the long term. In the course of time, the change of unfavorable thinking styles (cognitions) was thus integrated as a fixed therapy component. This is why today we also speak of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Cognitive behavioral therapy now combines a variety of disorder-specific and cross-disorder exercises, techniques, and methods that are individually tailored for each patient.
Behavior therapy for mental illness
In recent years, numerous scientific studies have demonstrated the efficacy of behavioral therapy treatments for many mental illnesses. These mental illnesses that are primarily treated with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy include, for example:
- Anxiety disorders
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- ADHD
At the beginning of behavioral therapy, the therapist works with the patient to develop a model of the disorder, which describes how the disorder arose and is maintained. Then a therapy plan is compiled, in which various therapeutic elements can be used flexibly.
Methods of behavior therapy
The best-known methods of behavior therapy are probably the exposure and confrontation methods, which are often used, for example, in anxiety and panic disorders and compulsions. In this method, the patient deliberately seeks out the situations of which he or she is most afraid. For example, a patient with a fear of heights climbs a very tall tower, a patient with a fear of spiders picks up a tarantula, or a patient with a compulsion to wash does not wash her hands for several hours. Other methods of behavioral therapy include systematic desensitization, relaxation techniques, cognitive restructuring methods, problem-solving training, and social skills training. Unlike other types of therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy is primarily problem- and goal-oriented. Patients also actively participate in therapy. They are often asked to keep diaries and logs or to perform some exposures and exercises independently.
Behavior therapy with children and adolescents
Behavior therapy can also produce very good treatment results in children and adolescents. For example, a common childhood disorder for which behavior therapy is indicated is ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Hallmarks of ADHD include inattention, poor concentration, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Behavioral therapy can help children in a fun way to learn methods with which they can better control their behavior and manage it more consciously. Other adolescent disorders, such as nocturnal enuresis, aggressive and oppositional behavior disorders, depression, or anorexia (anorexia nervosa) can also be treated with behavior therapy.
Behavior therapy: training to become a therapist
How to become a behavior therapist?A license to practice as a behavior therapist is obtained by psychologists and physicians who, after completing their studies in psychology or medicine, have completed several years of further training to become a behavior therapist. Training in behavior therapy is offered by many private training institutes in most major German cities, such as Berlin, Hamburg or Cologne.
