Summary: <p>Happiness Isn’t Brain Surgery:<br> Behavior Modification Basics/Part 1<br> Presented by: Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes<br> Executive Director, AllCEUs<br> Host: Counselor Toolbox</p> <p>Continuing Education (CE) credits for addiction and mental health counselors, social workers and marriage and family therapists can be earned for this presentation at<br> <a href="https://www.allceus.com/member/cart/index/product/id/575/c/">https://www.allceus.com/member/cart/index/product/id/575/c/</a></p> <p>Objectives<br> – Define behavior modification<br> – Explore how behavior modification can be useful in practice<br> – Learn basic behavior modification terms:<br> – Unconditioned stimulus and response<br> – Conditioned stimulus and response<br> – Discriminitive stimuli<br> – Learned helplessness</p> <p>Why Do I Care<br> – Change means doing something different or modifying a response<br> – That response can be a neurochemical one (stress response) or an overt behavioral one (smoking)<br> – Behavior modification principles will help you understand some of the reasons people act/react the way they do<br> – By understanding what rewards(causes and motivates) people’s behavior we can better address their issues<br> – The focus on observable, measurable conditions to the exclusion of cognitive interpretation underscores the mind-body connection<br> Definition<br> – Behavior modification in its truest form is concerned only with observable, measurable behaviors, stimuli and reinforcement<br> – Emotions, interpretations and mental processes have no bearing</p> <p>How can this be useful in practice<br> – Traditional (strict) behavior modification can be quite useful in simplifying stimulus/reaction<br> – Integrating the cognitive interpretations (labels) can help people in identifying and addressing what is causing their “distress” (Behaviorists would refer to excitatory response)<br> – Understanding what causes feelings can also give people a greater sense of empowerment.<br> Example<br> – Puppies learn appropriate behavior through reinforcement and correction<br> – Puppy 1 tackles puppy 2 / threat<br> – Puppy 2 responds by tackling puppy 1 / counter threat<br> – Both puppies get a surge of adrenaline<br> – The puppy that dominates receives a dopamine surge that reinforces the prior behaviors — do that again.</p> <p>– If Puppy 1 plays too rough, then puppy 2 will either become more aggressive or leave.<br> – Either way, puppy 1s behavior is punished.<br> Example 2<br> – Humans have learned to label certain internal experiences with feeling words (angry, scared, happy)<br> – Sally goes to a pet store<br> – A puppy comes out, sits in her lap and puts is head on her leg<br> – This contact (we know from studies) usually causes the release of dopamine and oxytocin –both reward chemicals<br> – Sally calls this “happy”</p> <p>– If Sally had previously had a threatening experience with a dog, when she saw it, her body would likely respond by secreting adrenaline, kicking off the fight or flight reaction. Sally would label this as “fear”<br> Points<br> – The brain receives signals and, based on prior learning (conditioning), responds with either:<br> – Fight/Anger or Flee/Fear (adrenaline/norepinepherine)<br> – No reaction/neutral<br> – Pleasure/Happy/Do this again (Dopamine/norepinephrine/Serotonin/GABA/Oxytocin?)<br> – Humans label these different chemical responses with feeling words.<br> – The same response can be labeled differently by two different people (fear vs. exhilaration)<br> Points<br> – People with anxiety, anger or resul</p>
