Behavior Therapy Empowers Persons with Severe Mental Illness

Abstract

Behavior therapy has been viewed by some as disempowering persons with severe mental illness (i.e., undermining their ability to make independent decisions). This is ironic because various behavioral strategies actually promote independent decision making. Behavioral interventions (a) provide a safe place for persons to consider their life decisions; (b) simplify the range of choices that comprise many of these decisions; (c) help persons with severe mental illness learn behaviors so that they can better meet the demands of independent decision making: (d) teach family members skills so that they can provide more resources to support independent decision making; and (e) facilitate self-control over behaviors and the settings in which they occur. Behavior therapists need to assert the important role that behavioral principles assume in empowering persons with mental illness so that these principles are not discarded by professionals who misunderstand, or otherwise stereotype, behavioral interventions.

Do Therapeutic Homework Assignments Address Areas of Need for Individuals with Severe Mental Illness?

“…They tended to concentrate on conducting tasks of daily living (e.g., maintaining the persons living environment, cooking meals, personal hygiene) or involvement in social activities and exercise (e.g., attendance at social events, physical activity). The focus on behavioural tasks is in line with recommendations in the literature which suggest that behavioural approaches empower individuals diagnosed with SMI (Corrigan, 1997). It is likely these tasks facilitate skill development and improve the person's confidence to engage in these activities more independently.…”

Positive Stigma: Examining Resilience and Empowerment in Overcoming Stigma

“…In this model, individuals who overcome adversity develop a sense of mastery and self-efficacy at their accomplishments . For example, individuals suffering from mental illness who have successfully undergone behavioral therapy become more empowered (Corrigan 1997). It is likely that the stigmatized individuals who are thriving in society despite their stigmatized status adopt the empowerment model over the coping model.…”

Analysing the relationship between misconceptions about halal among non-Muslims and their intention to boycott halal products

“…Thus, individuals who have false beliefs about something will have negative attitudes and they will be shown in their behaviours towards what they have false beliefs about. This is quite dangerous as most of discriminations, prejudices, attitudes, and behaviours, and racist rants, even criminal acts, started from misconceptions (Byrd, 2011;Corrigan, 1997;Yuan et al, 2016).…”