BEHAVIOR-THERAPY - REDEFINING STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS

This article highlights some of the strengths and limitations that hav e been associated with the behavioral approach to intervention. For ea ch of behavior therapy's theoretical and empirical contributions, we p oint out how these very strengths may also paradoxically serve to limi t its clinical effectiveness. For the most part, the shortcomings in b ehavior therapy's strength have come to light as the result of attempt s to apply these conceptual and empirical contributions in clinical pr actice. Included among the ''limiting strengths'' is the fact that beh avior therapy has provided the field with a fine-grained analysis of h ow individuals react to specific life situations; has been dedicated t o the development and study of specific effective techniques; makes us e of a skill-training orientation to therapy; focuses on the client's current life situation; has been influential in encouraging psychother apy outcome research; and has provided various forms of intervention t o reduce specific symptomatology. Some of the new avenues, often based on other theoretical orientations, that are being explored by behavio r therapy in order to counteract some of its potential clinical limita tions are also discussed.