Radical behavioral help for Katrina

Our treatment plan for Katrina is guided by the principles of functional an alytic psychotherapy (FAP; Kohlenberg & Tsai, 1991), an approach derived fr om radical behaviorism. The fundamental assumption is that we and our clien ts act the way we do because of the contingencies of reinforcement we have experienced in past relationships. It then follows that clinical improvemen ts, which are acts of the client, also involve contingencies of reinforceme nt that occur in the relationship between the client and therapist. Thus, o ur treatment of Katrina emphasizes the use of the client-therapist interact ion as an in-vivo learning opportunity. It is for this reason that FAP view s a caring, genuine, sensitive, and emotional client-therapist relationship as the most important element in the change process. We describe a FAP cas e conceptualization form designed to help the therapist achieve a curative therapeutic relationship. Our case conceptualization of Katrina includes an account of how Katrina's history resulted in her current daily life proble ms, identification of Katrina's cognitive phenomena that might be related t o her current problems, and most importantly the prediction of how Katrina' s clinically relevant behavior-daily life problems, dysfunctional thinking, and improvements-might occur during the session within the therapist-clien t relationship.