WHY MANAGED CARE IS RIPE FOR MARKET-ORIENTED BEHAVIOR-THERAPY - SINCETHE OPERANT CHAMBER - IS BEHAVIOR-THERAPY STILL THINKING IN BOXES - COMMENTARY

Chorpita (1997) has rightly diagnosed a significant problem. In the 19 80s and 1990s behavior therapy has progressed, in part, because it emb raced the technological model of treatment development, but that model cannot take behavior therapy to the next level. An industrialized hea lth delivery system needs science to succeed. The existing models of t reatment development and dissemination have inherent limitations in su ch an environment, however. Behavior therapy needs to go beyond the te chnological model of treatment development to link its knowledge base to the modern world of behavioral health care. The purpose of my comme nts are to elaborate on this basic point.