Behavioral psychotherapy focuses on observable behaviors rather than inferred mental processes. Undesirable behaviors are viewed as the problem rather than underlying disorders. The primary goal is behavioral change through methods based on conditioning and altering learned contingencies, such as contingency management or exposure therapy. Behavioral techniques are also used indirectly by helping others apply behavioral methods to clients. Empirical studies have provided strong support for behavioral psychotherapy in treating anxiety, depression, and other disorders. Cognitive therapy aims to promote logical thinking by helping clients recognize and change irrational cognitions. Therapists use techniques like the ABCDE model or identifying thought distortions to enable clients to logically respond to life events. Originally used for anxiety and mood disorders, cognitive therapy is now applied to

1. Behavioral psychotherapy focuses on observable, measurable behavior rather than mental phenomena
that can be only indirectly inferred. Problematic or undesirable behavior is viewed as the clinical
problem, not as a symptom of some underlying, deeper disorder. The primary goal of behavioral
psychotherapy is overt behavioral change, and its methods rely on empirical, testable hypotheses.
Behavioral therapists believe that conditioning, either classical or operant, is the primary cause of
behavior. As such, their clinical efforts center on altering client’s learned contingencies (via such
methods as contingency management, behavioral activation, or token economies) or breaking clients’
learned associations (via such methods as exposure therapy, systematic desensitization, or assertiveness
training). Principles of behavioral psychotherapy have also been used in an indirect, consulting
capacity, whereby the behavior therapist helps a consultee (e.g., a parent or teacher) apply behavioral
techniques with a client (e.g., a child or student). Empirical outcome studies have offered more
empirical support for behavioral psychotherapy than for any other approach, and the disorders for
which it has demonstrated empirical efficacy include anxiety disorders, depression, children’s behavior
disorders, and many others.
The primary goal of cognitive therapy, which has become the most commonly practiced approach to
psychotherapy among clinical psychologists, is to promote logical thinking. Cognitive therapists
accomplish this goal by helping clients recognize and revise cognitions that are illogical or irrational
during a course of therapy that is typically brief, structured, and problem focused. Their techniques
involve teaching clients about the cognitive model, in which cognitions intervene between events and
feelings, and assigning written or behavioral homework to be completed between sessions. Whether
using Albert Ellis’s ABCDE model (highlighted by disputing irrational beliefs and replacing them with
effective new beliefs) or Aaron Beck’s list of common thought distortions (e.g., all-or-nothing thinking,
personalization, magnification/minimization), cognitive therapists enable clients to overcome
psychological and behavioral problems by insisting on a logical response to the events of their lives.
Although cognitive therapy originally targeted anxiety and mood disorders, it is now applied to most
other psychological disorders, including personality disorders, and to other issues such as medical
problems and minor psychological problems that fall short of diagnostic criteria. A large and increasing
body of outcome studies suggests that cognitive therapy is highly efficacious for a wide range of
psychological disorders, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and others.