Skills training.

Document Type

Contribution to Book

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Cognitive behavior therapy: Core principles for practice

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons

Location

Hoboken, NY

Publication Date

1-1-2012

First Page

37

Last Page

74

Abstract

Applied psychology focuses on many topics, groups of individuals, and settings. We work in diverse settings such as schools, medical settings, industrial and organizational settings, military treatment facilities, and many others. We work with typically developing individuals and individuals with developmental disabilities, children, adults, families, couples, groups, and organizations. Clinical psychologists are best known for their one-to-one sessions with individuals diagnosed with psychological disorders from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), but the field of applied psychology is much broader than individual psychotherapy sessions. Many of the issues addressed by therapists do not fall under DSM categories and include issues such as social interaction difficulties, relationship problems, following medical regimens, or a myriad of issues that are related to or similar to diagnostic categories, but do not meet formal diagnostic criteria. Finally, applied psychological work is conducted by a variety of individuals, including psychiatrists, social workers, nurses, school counselors, marriage and family therapists, and psychologists; and with the advancement of technology, applied psychological services can also be acquired through bibliotherapy, online, or services such as telehealth (O'Donohue & Draper, 2011). One commonality that exits across all these settings, therapists, problems, and modes of delivery, is that we are helping our clients learn how to handle difficult situations more functionally. In many ways, a therapist's duty to teach the necessary skills to handle the difficulties that clients encounter may seem obvious, but this was not always so obvious in the field of psychology. Initial approaches within psychotherapy focused less on repertoire deficits and more on processes occurring within the individual or addressing historical events. Beginning largely with the behavioral movement in psychology, the focus shifted to building repertoires rather than correcting some under- lying faulty process (Skinner, 1953). Almost all forms of modern psycho- therapy (for example, behavior therapy, cognitive therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and so on) largely focus on teaching new skills. These treatments generally target the way that one responds to specific situations in the present moment—whether these are internal reactions such as a thought or a feeling, or external ones such as a problematic child, a difficult social situation, or difficulties in school. The best way to teach these skills has been a matter of study for some time. How to train these skills is the focus of this chapter.

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