Behaviour Modification Therapy

The practise of altering long-term patterns of human behaviour by the use of various motivational approaches, primarily negative and positive reinforcement, is known as behaviour modification. It can be a useful tool for encouraging healthy habits in you, your children, or your employees. A therapist may assist you in choosing the most effective methods to apply in order to bring about the desired change. There are ways that can help increase the effectiveness of behaviour modification

Techniques used to try and raise or decrease a specific type of behaviour or reaction are referred to as behaviour modification. Although it may sound highly technical, we all utilise this on a regular basis. This is how parents instruct their children on morality. It is employed by therapists to encourage healthy behaviour in their patients. It is utilized by creature mentors to cultivate compliance between a pet and its proprietor. It also applies to our interactions with friends and partners. 

Behaviour Modification Techniques

Behaviour modification therapy functions in a variety of ways. In essence, positive behaviour is rewarded and unfavourable behaviour is penalised. However, because people vary, it's not always easy to apply behavioural therapy.

Positive Reinforcement 

Giving a reward for good behaviour is known as positive reinforcement. The reinforcer, also known as the reward, fortifies a favourable link with the activity, making it more alluring. In the event that your child completes their homework right after school, you might allow them more screen time. This anticipated reward encourages the child to finish a task that they would not otherwise be keen to do 

Positive reinforcement is a useful behaviour control technique. When a client completes a difficult activity or achieves a goal, then advise them to think of appropriate ways to reward themselves. This may involve treating yourself to coffee after finishing a challenging task at work or purchasing new exercise gear as a reward for regular exercise.

But it's crucial to switch up this approach. Over time, reinforcers may become less valuable. For instance, if you gave your child sweets every time they made their bed, the treat would grow old and the child would eventually stop doing it.

Positive reinforcement functions most effectively when it is both predictable and consistent. Your child is more likely to continue making their bed if they know they might receive a reward if they do so than if there is no anticipation of a reward.

Negative reinforcement

Negative reinforcement, on the other hand, happens when a behaviour is encouraged by the absence of something unfavourable. When I used the alarm clock as an example, the negative consequences of wasting time and being late for work were eliminated, reinforcing my behaviour. When children perform well on a test, teachers may remove a homework assignment to reinforce good behaviour in the classroom. A helpful behaviour modification strategy that encourages individual behaviour change is negative reinforcement.

Negative punishment 

Negative punishment is the process of taking away something as a penalty to curtail undesirable conduct. For instance, if a youngster won't share their beloved doll with a friend or won't eat all of their veggies at dinner, a parent may refuse them dessert.

Flooding 

involves quickly and intensely exposing people to things or situations that make them fearful. Forcing someone with fear of snakes to hold one for 10 minutes would be example of flooding 

Systematic desensitization 

Is also used to treat phobias and involve teaching a client to remain calm while focusing on these fears for example someone with intense fear of bridges might start by looking at a photo of bridge, then thinking about standing on bridge, and eventually walking over a real bridge 

Aversion therapy

to train a patient to associate a behaviour with a bad stimulus in order to get them to minimise or avoid an undesirable behaviour pattern. Electrical, pharmacological, or fictitious aversive circumstances are the main stimuli employed in therapy. Every time the patient exhibits an unwanted behaviour, they receive a little uncomfortable jolt as part of the electrical therapy. Sexual deviances have been treated using this technique. In chemical therapy, the patient is given a medicine that, when combined with the undesirable behaviour, causes unpleasant side effects, such as nausea; this approach has been widely used in the treatment of alcoholism, where the therapeutic substance and the alcohol together cause the nausea.

Behavioural Modification Therapy Success Tips

A few things need to be kept in mind for behaviour modification therapy to be truly effective:

Be dependable. It's crucial to consistently follow certain procedures, especially when working with kids. All members of the family (parents, siblings, grandparents, and other caregivers), babysitters or other childcare providers, teachers, and others should be made aware of any standards you have set for your kid and should agree to uphold those expectations. This is true for both rewards and penalties.

Continue the behaviour. Unfortunately, once a positive habit is formed with a desired behaviour or a bad pattern is disrupted, the behaviour modification process doesn't end. Work is still being done to prevent the behaviours from happening again. Consider changing the schedule once a pattern of desirable behaviour has been established. Every time your child does the desired behaviour, you can praise or treat them while you're creating the pattern. However, after time, that incentive wanes, so you should either reduce its frequency to preserve its worth or alter the reward to keep things fresh.

Personalize the process. There is no one-size-fits-all strategy for behaviour change, as there is with most things in life. You are the best person to understand both your child and yourself. If a certain strategy doesn't seem to be working, try another one!

Be reasonable and patient. It can take time and a lot of patience to change your behaviour, both with yourself and with those around you. It's normal to revert to unhealthy behaviours, and it's not the end of the world. Hold on and you'll get back on course.

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