30 YEARS OF BEHAVIOR-THERAPY

From its beginnings, behavior therapy stood apart from all other psych otherapies in one important respect-its methods were derived from expe rimentally established paradigms. Behavior therapy's most direct influ ence was in the area of the anxiety disorders, where its most powerful impact was the weakening of anxiety by the simultaneous evocation of a competing response. Practical success depends greatly on systematic attenuation of anxiety based on hierarchical presentation of stimuli. Success can be widened if advantage is taken of a range of implementat ions of a paradigm. Yet, we need to keep in mind that not all behavior ally based paradigms are useful, and that some useful methods, such as Beck's cognitive approach, are not based on experimental paradigms.