The Promise and Challenge of Behaviour Therapy

Abstract

Three promises of behaviour therapy noted by Skinner, Eysenck, and Wolpe were discussed, namely, that behaviour problems could be treated as problems in their own right, that therapy procedures could be formulated in a testable fashion, and that treatment could be effective in months. These promises were discussed in the context of child behaviour therapy and the effectiveness of behavioural treatments was reviewed for developmental disabilities, aggression, hyperactivity, enuresis, and delinquency. Behavioural treatments were found to be demonstrably effective with these problems but not necessarily better than alternative treatments. Challenges for behaviour therapists were then proffered such as the need for more heuristic and/or theoretical concepts, the need to see the social network of clinical problems, the need for longer treatments, and the need for prevention and community intervention.