REMEDYING THE ACHILLES HEEL OF BEHAVIOR RESEARCH AND THERAPY - PRESCRIPTIVE MATCHING OF INTERVENTION AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Recent calls for eclecticism in clinical practice have been fueled by the putative limitations of behavioral techniques in treating a variet y of psychological problems. However, calls for such integration do no t appear to be justified for two related reasons. First, the precise c onditions under which behavioral interventions are and are not effecti ve have not yet been adequately delineated. Consequently, rejection of behavioral interventions in favor of relatively indiscriminate applic ation of cognitive strategies is premature. Second, behavior therapy h as as its hallmark a thorough grounding in inductive empiricism, while cognitive/dynamic theories are wholly based in deductive rationalism. As a result, wholesale acceptance of alternative theories and techniq ues by behaviorists is both inconsistent and retrogressive. Cognitive interventions have their place, but only when cognitive distortions ha ve been specifically identified. Therefore, refinement of behavioral t reatments into prescriptive interventions is warranted. The parameters of prescriptive behavior therapy are described in this paper.