Glenn M. Callaghan

Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) is a contextual behavioral approach that uses general principles of behaviorism to improve therapy outcomes. Principles of reinforcement are used to shape the client’s behavior in session, strategically reinforcing improvements in the therapeutic relationship. These improvements should extend to the client’s personal relationships outside the therapy, because of the functional similarities between in-session and out-of-session contexts. However, the literature suggests that functional analyses about what happens in session can be helpful to increase the chances of extension and transfer of improvements out of session. With that in mind, the FAP process can be separated into 2 parts: experiential and analytical. During the experiential part of the interaction, therapists should evoke and naturally reinforce the client’s improvements in a process that can lead to an improvement in intimacy in the therapeutic relationship. During the analytical part, the therapist and client should analyze the interaction that occurred between them in session, creating tracking and augmenting rules, which will help with the client’s behavior change out of session. The goal of this article is to discuss how the functional analysis of the therapeutic relationship is important for the extension of in-session improvements to out of session contexts. Discussion of behavioral terms and concepts such as self-knowledge and self-control, rule-governed behavior and behavior shaped by contingencies, sensitivity to changes in contingencies, transformations of stimulus function, generalization, and others, will clarify the theoretical basis for why each of the 2 parts of FAP can potentiate the power of the other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)

Interventions from Functional Analytic Psychotherapy focus on what happens in-session between clients and therapists to create more intense and curative therapeutic relationships. The methods described--being aware of clients' clinically relevant behaviors, being courageous in evoking clinically relevant behaviors, reinforcing improvements with therapeutic love, and using behavioral interpretations to help clients generalize changes to daily life--point to compelling directions in personal growth and change for both clients and therapists.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent to which exposure to a television commercial for an antidepressant drug (Cymbalta^®) compared to another commercial (Weight Watchers^®) influenced participants' knowledge of the drug (including side effects and indications) and self‐reported likelihood of seeking an antidepressant medication.Design/methodology/approach: A randomized‐group design with two conditions was used with a sample of an ethnically diverse group of college students (n=498). Scores assessing drug knowledge and self‐reported likelihood of drug seeking and scores from the Beck Depression Inventory‐II (BDI‐II) were analyzed.Findings: The Cymbalta^® group had higher drug‐knowledge scores than did the control group. Differences in drug‐seeking scores across conditions were not significant; however, drug‐knowledge scores and drug‐seeking scores were negatively related. Across groups, BDI‐II scores were positively related to drug seeking.Research limitations/implications: These results suggest that direct‐to‐consumer (DTC) advertising may educate consumers regarding medications, at least in the short term. Self‐reported intention to seek an antidepressant medication was significantly higher in participants who met the BDI‐II threshold for major depressive disorder, regardless of experimental condition.Practical implications: A decreased desire to seek antidepressants, possibly due to increased familiarity with drug side‐effects, suggests that advertising may be educating viewers about important concerns about medication and that may impact their desire to seek those drugs.Originality/value: Direct‐to‐consumer advertising (DTCA) of pharmaceuticals remains controversial, yet few experimental studies have examined the effects of DTCA on drug knowledge and drug‐seeking behavior of potential consumers.

The literature examining body image disturbance and Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is fraught with competing theoretical constructions of the etiology and nosology of these problems. Recent studies on various forms of psychopathology suggest that intrapersonal processes, including experiential avoidance, and interpersonal processes such as difficulties identifying and expressing emotions with others, correlate with higher levels of psychopathology. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship of body image disturbance and diagnosable BDD to the contemporary behavioral variables of experiential avoidance and interpersonal expression of affect. A large sample of participants including those who are diagnosable with BDD were examined. Results indicate that both intrapersonal and interpersonal variables are significant predictors of both body image disturbance in a large population and of BDD as a subsample and that these variables may be important targets for treatment. This principle-based conceptualization has parsimony and potential utility for clinical interventions of these problems. Implications are discussed for the use of contemporary behavioral treatments such as Functional Analytic Psychotherapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to address both body image disturbance and BDD.