The Development of Behaviour Therapy in Australia

Abstract

In his address to the Annual Conference of the Australian Behaviour Modification Association in 1986, Dr. Robin Winkler chose the topic “The social history of behaviour modification in Australia” (Winkler & Krasner, 1987). Dr. Winkler was concerned to recognise the contributions of a number of individuals who were prominent in the new movement in the 50s, 60s and 70s. My aim is rather different. I want to try to capture what the early workers were trying to achieve, what they saw as the problems, and how they viewed the early developments. I will then look at more recent developments in Australian behaviour therapy, and try to characterise its current status. Finally, I'll discuss what seem to me the major current problems, and suggest some possible solutions. Where I feel able to do so, and it seems to me appropriate, I'll make some comparisons with the situation in the USA. Many of the more general points, of course, will be relevant to behaviour therapy in any country.