Health ministry of republic of moldova the university of medicine and pharmacy nicolae testemiţanu

 
2. Behavioral techniques 
According to the theory behind this approach, once behavior is 
changed, feelings will change as well. Probably the best-known type of 
behavioral therapy is 
behavior modification,
which focuses on elimina-
ting undesirable habits by providing positive 
reinforcement
 
for the more 
desirable behaviors. Another behavioral technique is systematic 
de-
sensitization, 
in which people are deliberately and gradually exposed to 
a feared object or experience to help them overcome their fears. A per-
son who is afraid of dogs may first be given a stuffed toy dog, then be 
exposed to a real dog seen at a distance, and eventually forced to interact 
with a dog at close range. Relaxation training is another popular form of 
behavior therapy. Through such techniques as deep breathing, visua-
lization, and progressive muscle relaxation, clients learn to control fear 
and anxiety. 
In contrast to the psychoanalytic method of Sigmund Freud
 
(1856-
1939), which focuses on 
unconscious
 
mental processes and their roots in 
the past, behavior therapy focuses on observable behavior and its modi-
fication in the present. Behavior therapy was developed during the 
1950s by researchers and therapists critical of the psychodynamic treat-
ment methods that prevailed at the time. It drew on a variety of theoreti-
cal work, including the 
classical conditioning
 
principles of the Russian 
physiologist Ivan Pavlov
 
(1849-1936), who became famous for experi-
ments in which dogs were trained to salivate at the sound of a bell, and 
the work of American B.F. Skinner
 
(1904-1990), who pioneered the 
concept of 
operant conditioning,
in which behavior is modified by chan-
ging the response it elicits. By the 1970s, behavior therapy enjoyed 

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widespread popularity as a treatment approach. Over the past two deca-
des, the attention of behavior therapists has focused increasingly 
Many therapists have begun to use