A brief introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis ABA Therapy

A Quick Guide

Have you ever behaved in a way you wished you didn’t? For instance, maybe you made poor health choices and gained a lot of weight. And the doctor told you that if you don’t change your behavior, it will have drastic impacts on your health. So even though you have high motivation to be more ‘healthy’. But you just don’t know what to do?  If your answer is yes, then don’t worry. A lot of us experience times when we want to behave in some ways and stop behaving in others. It’s hard to make sense of why we act the way we do. Here, a behavior analyst can use applied behavior analysis to help you.

What is applied behavior analysis? Who are behavior analysts?

To put it simply, behavior analysts are experts in understanding and changing people’s dysfunctional behaviors. They use an approach called applied behavior analysis to do so. This is sometimes also called behavioral therapy, ABA therapy, or behavior modification therapy. Usually, mental health professionals get training in these approaches. and apply it in therapy with clients who want to change some aspects of their behavior. Behavioral Modification Therapy is based on principles of ‘learning’.

Behavioral Methods

Behavior analysts usually use behavioral techniques based on classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and modeling to help people change their overt (observable) behavior. Some professionals also employ cognitive techniques as well to target covert (hidden) behavior by targeting underlying emotions, thoughts, and physiological reactions that drive them.

What does Applied Behavior Analysis include?

Applied behavior analysis focuses on the following aspects:

Defining an individual’s present status and progress in behavior terms instead of using broad traits.

For example, a father comes with a complaint that he is ‘aggressive with his children’ and wants to stop. So, instead of targeting aggression (a broad term), its behavioral manifestation is defined and tracked. Such as how many times does this individual shout at his children in a day? how many times does he hit them? how frequently does he curse them or is verbally abusive? Likewise, since starting behavior modification therapy, has he reduced these behaviors? Is there any progress?

Measuring behavior.

For example, weekly tracking of the number of times the individual hits his children is an example of measuring behavior.

Assessing how covert behaviors manifests in overt behavior.

For example, before hitting his children, the father experiences a surge of physiological symptoms which drive his behavior. i.e. he felt hot in the face, his blood pressure and heartbeat increased, he felt sudden energy in his hands, etc.

Altering the environment to facilitate behavior change.

For example, the father notices that he usually hits his children when he comes home from work. So here, a couple of environmental changes can be made. The children’s room can be shifted slightly far from him. So that when he is the angriest, their interaction is minimal. Plus, they can give him time to rest after coming home from work.

Important concepts in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA therapy)

A few terms you need to be aware of in ABA therapy are the following:

• Target Behavior: This is the behavior that one aims to change by undergoing behavior modification therapy.  
• Behavior Deficit: This is a healthy/desirable behavior that one does not perform too often, long enough, or not well enough. For example, a girl with performance anxiety does not speak up in class. So here, not speaking up is a behavioral deficit. This can be a target of change in behavioral therapy.
• Behavior excess: This is an unhealthy/undesirable behavior that one performs too much, for too long, or too strongly. For example, drinking too much alcohol, eating a lot of junk food, etc.

ABA therapy Approach

What makes ABA therapy distinct from other therapeutic approaches is that it is quite practical or pragmatic in nature rather than abstract or theoretical. Unlike other approaches in which the client talks about their problems and the therapist just listens, behavioral therapy is more action based. Clients are quite active in this therapy, jointly discussing and deciding with the therapist which techniques to use and how to practice behavior change under supervision. Sometimes the therapist may even assign ‘homework’ which includes techniques the client can apply outside the session.

We hope the above article helped you to understand the gist of ABA therapy. To understand more about it, check out the related articles.