RADICAL BEHAVIORAL PSYCHOTHERAPY - 2 CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLES

Two new systems of adult outpatient psychotherapy based on Skinner's r adical behaviorism are described. They do not resemble traditional beh avior therapy. Functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP) relies on an in volved, emotional, nonmanipulative client-therapist relationship as th e vehicle of change. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) gives the client a counterintuitive method of accepting, rather than changing o r eliminating, troublesome thoughts and feelings. The descriptions of these therapies are offered (a) to illustrate how intensive, in-depth psychotherapies can be derived from radical behaviorism, and (b) to ci rcumvent the frequent misunderstandings that characterize the discussi ons between behavior analysis and their critics. The nature of ACT and FAP methods appears to dispel many common myths about contemporary be havior analysis.