A Learning Theory Proposal that May Strengthen the Effectiveness of Psychological Treatments

Abstract

This paper stands in the learning tradition of H. J. Eysenck who, sixty-three years ago in 1961, wrote that pathological/psychological disorders are learned/conditioned responses or habits that are non-adaptive. Eysenck argued that persons who receive Psychological Treatment (i.e. ‘psychotherapy’) are best served when their symptom complaints are addressed with well-established learning guidelines. In a similar vein, our proposal presents a general overview of learning and following Eysenck’s lead, describes six general characteristics (Eysenck listed 6 characteristics of ‘psychotherapy’) of a learning-based proposal for Psychological Treatment. Our proposal places a heavy emphasis on the therapist’s role as teacher. In addition, four acquisition learning examples are presented showing how one constructs a learning approach that addresses psychological symptom categories.