When is Behavioral Therapy Used?

Because behavioral therapy is based on the observations of everything we do, it has a wide reaching scope for application. It is used more effectively in disorders such as addiction, anxiety, and phobias. It is being studied clinically for its use in a number of other adverse behaviors that can be distressing to individuals or families like anorexia or delinquency. While it is quite successful in changing ways we behave, behavioral therapy is not meant to treat mental illnesses. It can however be quite effective in combination with other therapies to reduce certain behaviors that may intensify mental stress or illness.

Recently behavioral therapy has been associated with treating disorders like Autism Spectrum and Down’s Syndrome. Additionally, this therapy is helpful in parenting, providing parents the opportunity to evaluate how they are responding and reacting to their children. Through changes and improvement of these responses parents begin to see the coinciding change in how their children act, providing positive growth opportunities for the family. By using the behavioral theory therapists employ practices that eliminate or greatly reduce behaviors that restrain individuals from engaging in their life at full potential. For young children it can alter approaches to education and increase their personal potential for lifetime learning and for adults this approach can teach skills that lead to a more rewarding life. (www.theravive.com)