The following behavioral therapy plan has been designed to deal with a dysfunctional behavior involving a drunkard parent. The parent is a father of three who is a habitual drunkard and this habit is adversely affecting the finances of the family. He spends most of his free time, especially after work, at drinking joints.
The habit is also affecting the fatherly responsibility and expectations of the parent. However, no one among the family members is willing to talk about the habit which has seen family ties subsequently threatened and deteriorate due to fatherly negligence and irresponsibility.
As a therapist, I would opt for conditioning and learning to help the father overcome this behavior. The most immediate response to the behavior will be a positive reinforcement of classical conditioning which refers to a method of learning where the conditioned response is supposed to initiate the occurrence of an unconditioned response. A person is thought to associate the occurrence of one signal with the automatic response of a second signal that will always follow the first one.
In behavioral therapy, classical conditioning is used to change the unconditioned stimulus by successfully substituting it with another desired stimulus in order to overcome the dysfunctional habit. Initially, the person would have a certain dysfunctional habit that he or she has always associated with a certain uncontrolled stimulus. The desired unconditioned stimulus is gradually introduced while reducing the undesired one.
In this case, the conditioned stimulus will be an alarm clock that goes on at exactly 4 pm signifying the end of working time. Thus, the father relates the alarm signal to free time and every time the alarm goes on, he knows he is free from duty and drives to his usual drinking joints. Hence, drinking is the unconditioned stimulus that should be done away with, while the big task is to identify another activity that will substitute visiting the drinking places.
More so, the father has to be trained to always associate free time with the identified behavior. Through classical conditioning, he is introduced to golf as a game and subsequently as the unconditioned stimulus. He is gradually trained to associate the alarm clock with golf. Once it goes on, he is reminded of an appointment with the golf course and thus leaves the office to go and play golf. It is expected that with time, he will start to associate the alarm with the game and in the process he will shun drinking.
Once done with classical conditioning, operant conditioning should follow. In operant or instrumental conditioning, a person is left to choose on the right action against the dysfunctional behavior according to its consequences. A person is made fully aware of the behavior they are engaging in, and the probable consequences. It is then left upon them to voluntarily make a decision over the same.
Operant conditioning may lead to punishment or reinforcement. Punishment occurs when the affected person takes up the new behavior less frequently while reinforcement occurs when the affected person goes on with the new behavior more frequently than before. Conditioning may be said to be extinct if the affected person shows no change following the introduction of a new trait.
The case of a drunk and irresponsible father demands that he is reminded of the societal expectations. Effort should also be made to make him realize the negligence he has subjected the family to and the mismanagement of family finances.
The father should also be briefed on the current consequences of his behavior as well as what might befall the family in the future as a result of his drinking habit and then the idea of engaging in golf as a game to help utilize free time should be introduced. This should be made to sound like the best option compared to drinking.
A few merits of engaging in sports over drinking should convince the father. The father should also be explained to that that playing golf will not only help him manage free time but also slowly quit drinking. The father is then left to decide on his own on the best action to take with playing golf having been put as the best alternative. During this time, it is expected that he will evaluate the consequences of daily drinking on the family and compare the consequences should he opt to spend his free time doing something else.
Observational learning should closely follow operant conditioning. Here, the affected person is left to act on his behavior through observing others. In behavioral therapy, the therapist identifies various personalities with outstanding character in society who act as role models.
Some might be those who were once faced with a similar condition. The client is then allowed to observe their lifestyle, character, personality as well as the generalized behavior of such persons. He/she is most likely to be tempted to ape certain positive traits from such models. Hence, through observation and copying, the affected person may eventually drop the bad trait in an attempt to be like the role model.
Once again, observational learning does not call for reinforcement but learning through observation just like little children do in the course of their behavioral development. Thus, the therapist will only be entitled to identifying the models and the whole task of observation is left to the client.
Referring to the client in this scenario, I need to identify a few examples of people who were once irresponsible drinkers who will serve as models. I will also sample out some parents with exemplary family set ups that I will use to persuade and encourage my client to keenly observe how such parents manage and raise their families. I will then allow my client to keep observing the families as I asses his progress.
The client is advised to only watch out for positive traits that might help him quit drinking and not trying to copy the whole social lifestyle of the model. Having properly gone through classical conditioning and operant conditioning, I am convinced the client will eventually opt for golf after work over drinking. He might eventually quit drinking.
In conclusion, behavioral therapy majorly depends on the client’s willingness to drop a certain behavior as well as the methods employed by the therapist. The three approaches explained above are however the best methods used to encourage behavioral change. Once somebody has an alternative for a certain behavior, he is given time to ponder on the consequences and make a decision.
The same person is then encouraged to uphold the same decision by observing those who have excelled through the same way. In this manner, one is able to successfully go through dysfunctional behavior therapy and achieve behavioral transformation.