Comparing psychotherapy and behavior therapy approaches

Psychology

Psychotherapy vs. Behavior Therapy

Psychotherapy is a form of therapy that helps treat mental and behavioral disorders by talking about these disorders with a professional trained in mental health and psychotherapy. The therapy can be one-on-one or group oriented. Often, participants just call it "therapy' (Editors, 2006). Psychotherapy can help an individual deal with emotional issues, such as anger or aggression, and it helps understand relationships and reactions to people and situations, as well. Often, psychotherapy does not last a long time, and participants can choose when they feel they have gotten enough results from their therapy. Psychotherapy can help people deal with negative behaviors, but it also teaches them to set realistic goals, enjoy life, and solve problems effectively.

Behavior therapy, on the other hand, treats mental and behavioral disorders by attempting to teach alternate or acceptable behaviors to replace the disruptive or destructive behaviors. For example, an overly aggressive person may undergo behavior therapy to address their anger and dangerous behavior toward others. By changing their behaviors, they hope to become less aggressive and violent. Behavior therapy uses rewards or reinforcements to create positive behaviors in order to replace destructive behaviors. Desensitizing is an important part of this type of therapy, where the patient confronts something they have been unable to deal with, such as a fear or anxiety, and gradually learns to become desensitized to the problem, which eliminates the negative behavior (Editors, 2006).

Basically, both therapies give the patient ways to deal with problems in their lives. The basic different between the two therapies is how they address and handle these problems. Psychotherapy attempts to give the patient ideas and tools to help them master their problems and reactions to problems, while behavioral therapy attempts to fully eliminate unwanted behaviors by desensitizing and behavior modification.