A History of the Behavioral Therapies
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
2 Table of Contents Preface Introduction A History of the Behavioral Therapies William T. O'Donohue, Deborah A. Henderson, Steven C. Hayes, Jane E. Fisher, and Linda J. Hayes University of Nevada, Reno Chapter 1 The Importance of Case Studies to Methodology of Science Thomas Nickles University of Nevada, Reno Chapter 2 Joseph Wolpe: Challenger and Champion for Behavior Therapy Roger Poppen Southern Illinois University Chapter 3 3 B. F. Skinner’s Contribution to Therapeutic Change: An Agency-less, Contingency Analysis Julie S. Vargas West Virginia University Chapter 4 Jacob Robert Kantor (1888-1984): Pioneer in the Development of Naturalistic Foundations for Behavior Therapy Paul T. Mountjoy Western Michigan University Chapter 5 Child Behavior Therapy: Early History Sidney W. Bijou University of Nevada, Reno Chapter 6 Studies in Behavior Therapy and Behavior Research Therapy: June 1953-1965 Ogden R. Lindsley 4 University of Kansas and Behavior Research Company Chapter 7 A Brief Personal Account of CT (Conditioning Therapy), BT (Behavior Therapy) and CBT (Cognitive-Behavior Therapy): Spanning Three Continents Arnold A. Lazarus Rutgers University and the Center for Multimodal Psychological Services Chapter 8 Swimming Against the Mainstream: The Early Years in Chilly Waters Albert Bandura Stanford University Chapter 9 The Rise of Cognitive Behavior Therapy Albert Ellis Albert Ellis Institute for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Chapter 10 5 From Psychodynamic to Behavior Therapy: Paradigm Shift and Personal Perspectives Cyril M. Franks Rutgers University Chapter 11 Cognitive Behavior Therapy: The Oxymoron of the Century Leonard Krasner Stanford University Chapter 12 The Development of Behavioral Medicine W. Stewart Agras Stanford University School of Medicine Chapter 13 Toward a Cumulative Science of Persons: Past, Present, and Prospects Walter Mischel Columbia University Chapter 14 6 A Small Matter of Proof Donald M. Baer University of Kansas Chapter 15 Do Good, Take Data Todd R. Risley University of Alaska Chapter 16 Application of Operant Conditioning Procedures to the Behavior Problems of an Autistic Child: A 25-Year Follow-Up and the Development of the Teaching Family Model Montrose M. Wolf University of Kansas Chapter 17 The Active Unconscious, Symptom Substitution, and Other Things That Went ‘Bump’ in the Night Gordon L. Paul University of Houston 7 Chapter 18 Values and Constructionism in Clinical Assessment: Some Historical and Personal Perspectives on Behavior Therapy Gerald C. Davison University of Southern California 8 Dedication This book is dedicated to the loving memory of Janet Bijou, a true friend of behavior therapy, and whose intelligence and kindness reflect the humanitarian spirit guiding us all. 9 Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books Copyright © 2001 Context Press Context Press is an imprint of New Harbinger Publications, Inc. 5674 Shattuck Avenue Oakland, CA 94609 www.newharbinger.com All Rights Reserved Epub ISBN:9781608825882 The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as: A history of the behavioral therapies : founders’ personal theories / edited by William T. O’Donohue ... [et al.]. p. cm. “Based on a conference held at the University of Nevada, Reno, in June, 1999"—Pref. Includes bibliographical references. 10 ISBN 1-878978-40-3 1. Behavior therapy—History—Congresses. I. O’Donohue, William T. RC489.B4 H55 2001 616.89’142’09—dc21 2001047081 11 Preface This book is based on a conference held at the University of Nevada, Reno in June, 1999. The editors organized this conference in order to provide an opportunity for us and others to better understand the development of the behavioral therapies and to capture a part of the historical record before it was lost forever. Most importantly, we wanted to honor the founders of the behavioral therapies and to watch as this group of approximately 20 individuals interacted — most of them as old friends, but also perhaps for the last time, at least in this large of a group. The chapters the arise from this conference show the unique properties of these unique individuals. While participants had an outline of topics to address, each chapter reflects the topics that the presenters felt best revealed their intellectual history and the context and content of their contribution. The difference between chapters in toen and approach could not realistically be eliminated without muffling the very voices we wanted to hear. In the end, we made the conscious decision to give these leaders of the field the freedom to tell their story in their own way. We want to thank these individuals for taking time from their busy lives to make this conference a huge success. Although many of these founders are certainly of retirement age — all are clearly “flunking” retirement. Old friends met once again, sometimes after years without contact. Others met for the first time. There was much catching up and many great stories 12 were told. We would also like to thank them for sharing the stories of their lives and their work. These stories were often quite moving, and sometimes very funny. What these individuals showed us is that the story of the development of behavior therapy is not a dry story of purely intellectual commitments and technical developments. Rather it is clearly a story of deeply held values, caring, compassion, conflict, fate, and, at times, personal tragedy. This book is dedicated to these (and other) founders of our discipline. We also dedicate this book to the spouses and families of these founders. Many individuals brought family members and it was both impressive and touching. It was clear that in many cases there was a real partnership in which spouses not only supported but also clearly substantively contributed to the success of their partners. We also want to comment on one key aspect of the conference. Many of the founders expressed their deep debt and gratitude to two central figures — Sidney Bijou and Albert Bandura. These two individuals often worked quietly and behind the scenes helping others find jobs, training key students, and in general generously giving help and encouragement to others. The special gratitude and honor extended to these two individuals should be noted. We also want to thank Professor Leo Reyna for presenting a paper at the conference. Leo is one of the great teachers in our profession; for example, his influence on Joseph Wolpe was critical to the development of behavior therapy. Unfortunately, due to serious health problems he was not able to write up his fascinating paper as a chapter for this volume. 13 We would also like to thank supporters of this conference. Dean Robert Mead and Vice President Ken Hunter were particularly helpful. Their generous help made this conference possible. Finally, we also want to thank Tuna Townsend for his generous assistance on many aspects of this project. William T. O'Donohue Deborah A. Henderson Steven C. Hayes Jane E. Fisher Linda J. Hayes 14 Participants in the Nevada Conference on the History of the Behavior Therapies Top row (from left to right): Ogden Lindsley, Gordon Paul, Don Baer, Bill O’Donohue, Mont Wolf, Paul Mountjoy, Deborah Henderson Second row (from left to right): Cyril Franks, Jane Fisher, Todd Risley, Sid Bijou, Walter Mischel, Stewart Agras, Steve Hayes 15 Bottom row (from left to right): Roger Poppen, Jerry Davison, Julie Vargas, Leo Reyna, Len Krasner, Albert Bandura, Linda Hayes 16 Introduction A History of the Behavioral Therapies William T. O'Donohue, Deborah A. Henderson, Steven C. Hayes, Jane E. Fisher, Linda J. Hayes University of Nevada, Reno What is behavior therapy? But what history are we trying to capture in this volume? What is behavior therapy, or what was it, at least in its beginnings? It might prove useful at least for a general orientation to provide a few definitions of behavior therapy, particularly those that were offered around the time of its formation: “Behavior therapy derives its impetus from experimental psychology and is essentially an attempt to apply the findings and methods of this discipline to disorders of human behavior” (Rachman, 1963, p. 3). “The attempt to alter human behavior and emotion in a beneficial manner according to the laws of modern learning theory” (Eysenck, 1964, p. 1). “Treatment deducible from the sociopsychological model that aims to alter a person’s behavior directly through application 17 of general psychological principles” (Krasner & Ullmann, 1965, p. 244). “Behavior therapy, or conditioning therapy, is the use of experimentally established principles of learning for the purpose of changing maladaptive behavior” (Wolpe, 1969, p. VII). Bandura (1969) placed the principles of behavior modification within the “conceptual framework of social learning…By requiring clear specification of treatment conditions and objective assessment of outcomes the social learning approach…contains a self-corrective feature that distinguishes it from change enterprises in which interventions remain ill-defined and their psychological effects are seldom objectively evaluated” (p. v). There seems to be some consensus, at least among these various definitions, that behavior therapy is an orientation to understanding and ameliorating human suffering, through behavior change, that is influenced by principles derived from experimental psychology, particularly learning research. Behavior therapists have traditionally emphasized outcome research (and still do) and more recently some of behavior therapy’s subdivisions stress the importance