For Cristina Roda Rivera placeholder image. March 7, 2018
Analytic-functional psychotherapy (FAP) is a form of behavior therapy that emphasizes the use of the therapist-client relationship to object to make full use of the learning opportunities that arise in the therapy session (eg, in vivo intervention). Based on radical behaviorism by B. F. Skinner, FAP produces change through natural and healing reinforcement contingencies that they occur within an emotional, close, and highly implicated therapist-client relationship.
Keep reading this PsicologíaOnline article if you are interested in knowing more about Functional Analytical Psychotherapy.
Kohlenberg and M. Tsai found that some of their clients treated with conventional cognitive behavioral therapy techniques experienced remarkable improvements that went beyond the initial goals of the treatment. In the search for the causes of this phenomenon, they observed that these remarkable advances occurred in those patients with whom an intense and committed therapeutic relationship4 had been established.
As a result of this experience, Kohlenberg and her group applied behavioral concepts to:
- Explain the connection between dramatic improvements and an intense therapeutic relationship
- Outline the procedure to follow to facilitate these intense and potentially healing links.
Kohlenberg and Tsai stated that FAP, a powerful treatment by itself, is also an approximation integrative that can be combined with practically any other type of therapy with results synergistic. It should also be noted that the emphasis on the therapeutic relationship that FAP makes based on behavioral theory has some unintended similarities with the Freudian concept of transference, as well as with the idea that it can to have "Hidden meanings" beneath the surface of statements made by patients during consultation.
FAP highly values in-vivo learning opportunities, that is, the actual appearance of the patient's problems in her interaction with the therapist. The patient is seeking treatment for problems in daily life, and in doing so acts in the same way dysfunctional in the clinical context, therefore the therapist must be attentive to detect the behaviors clinically relevant. We can distinguish three types of clinically relevant behaviors within therapy.
- The relevant behaviors type 1 (CCR1) are those behaviors related to the problem that the client presents in the session and whose frequency should be reduced throughout the therapy
- The clinically relevant behaviors type 2 (CCR2) are the behaviors that occur in the session and that suppose an improvement in relation to the problem for which the consultation is sought.
- The clinically relevant behaviors type 3 (CCR3) are the client's interpretations of her own behavior. Along with these are also descriptions of functional equivalence that indicate similarities between what happens in the session and their daily life.
FAP employs several therapeutic strategies. The main three are:
Watch for the appearance of CRC, b) provoke CRC and c) reinforce CCR2.
* Strategy 1: Attention to clinically relevant behaviors (CCR). This strategy is the most important since it alone leads to a more intense and effective treatment.
A therapist skilled in detecting CRC also tends to be more easily able to encourage and naturally encourage clients to object that they abandon self-incriminating patterns that appear in vivo and, therefore, increase more productive approaches towards lifetime.
* Strategy 2: Provoke CCR2. Since the occurrence of CRC is indicated for the performance of FAP, how can the therapist favor its appearance? Reconstruction of the client's behavior problems in a behavioral trial, as mentioned, is not the same as the natural onset of CRC. Similarly, feigning ad hoc situations, such as being late for a consultation or getting angry with a client, are not recommended, as it is inconsistent with the honest and close relationship that the PAF suggests.
* Strategy 3: Reinforce CCR2. Reinforcement is a technical term that in this context refers to the care and strengthening that the therapist exercises over the improvements that occur in the consultation. It is advisable to trust the natural reactions of the therapist instead of using sentences stereotyped like "that's great!" or "great!", which can be seen by the client as faults of sincerity. Expert FAP therapists are aware of the occurrence of CCR2 the moment it occurs and are spontaneously and genuinely reinforcing.
On the other hand, therapists who are unaware of CCRs can inadvertently punish CCR2 (for example, therapeutic progress). Let us consider a case of a patient who seeks help for a depression related to the low assertiveness that she shows with her husband.
The therapist she saw tried to teach her to be more assertive using behavioral rehearsals, a common behavior therapy procedure. The patient said she was uncomfortable with the behavioral trial and asked if there was another way to approach the problem.
The therapist then suggested to the patient that resisting the behavioral trial was a show of avoidance and encouraged her to continue doing so anyway. The FAP analysis of this episode indicates that the patient's refusal to perform the tests is a CCR2, since she has been assertive with the therapist in doing so, that is, the same real-life skill he was trying to teach her. The therapist, on the other hand, did not encourage or strengthen this assertiveness, And he may even have inadvertently punished her by accusing her of avoiding and insisting on the conduct rehearsal.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
