A Comprehensive Behavioral-cognitive Treatment of Writer's Block

Abstract

A behavioral-cognitive intervention, including the use of a schedule, overt and covert reinforcers, and therapist monitoring of progress, was used to treat a graduate student with writer's block. Daily self-recording was used to assess baseline and intervention phases, and indicated that the intervention yielded an immediate and consistent increase in the number of hours of writing, the use of weekdays for writing, and self-rated effectiveness. Clinical considerations involved in the use of the procedure and generalization of the method to other work projects and clients are discussed.The authors wish to thank Dennis Upper, V. A. Medical Center, Brockton, Massachusetts for his helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Portions of this work were completed while the authors were psychology interns at the V. A. Medical Center, Brockton, Massachusetts. Requests for reprints should be addressed to Harold Rosenberg,

Towards Enhancing Written Communication Skills in the Army: Cognitive and Metacognitive Perspective

“…This is a very real problem for many adult writers (cf., Rose, 1980), one which psychologists have addressed using behavioral therapy (e.g.. Rosenberg & Lah, 1982). The INVENT software of Burns is perhaps the only idea processor that includes management of affect within the package itself.…”