BEHAVIORAL APPROACH IN COUNSELING

This paper was written to fulfill an assignment for the “Guidance and Counseling” course
taught by

Aprezo Pardodi Maba,M.Pd

Created by:
1. Umi Qoni’ah (211240032)
2. Sinta Balqis (21140031)

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OFTARBIYAH
UNIVERSITY MA’ARIF LAMPUNG
2023
 PREFACE
Praise be god almighty for the blessing of his grace, and that we were given the
opportunity to be able to compile a working paper entitled “Behavioral Approach In
Counseling” properly, correctly, and on time.

This paper is structured so that readers can know much more about analyzing
literature. This paper was compiled with help of various people. Both parties come from
outside as well as from parties concerned with themselves. And because of the aid and help
of Allah SWT, this paper can be finally resolved.

The compilers also thank Mr. Aprezo Pardodi Maba,M.Pd, as the lecturer of Guidance
And Counseling, who has many professors helped the compilers in order to complete this
paper.

Hopefully, this paper can give a broader insight to the reader. Although the paper has
advantages and disadvantages. Criticism and suggestions are expected to improve the ability
of the author for further research. Thank you.

Author

March 3, 2023

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

PREFACE …………………………………………………………… 1
TABLE OF CONTENT ……………………………………………. 2
CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION ………………………………… 3
1. Background of the paper ……………………………………… 3
2. Problem formulation ………………………………………….. 3
CHAPTER II - THEORY AND DISCUSSION ………………….. 4
1. Definition of behavioral approach …………………………….. 4
2. History of behavioral approach ……………………………….. 4
3. Application of behavioral approach in counseling …………… 5
CHAPTER III - CONCLUSION ………………………………….. 12
BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………. 13

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 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1. Background Of The Paper
Corey (2005) suggests that psychoanalysis is a model of personality
development with a psychotherapy approach. Freud's theories are widely developed
on the model of counseling and psychological therapy, as well as being mandatory in
understanding the dimensions of human personality. For those interested in the
“helping profession” is not alien to the concepts and theoretical frameworks of Freud
and Freudians. Classical psychoanalysis which later developed in contemporary
psychoanalysis remains one of the considerations of counselors and therapists in
determining approaches to modern psychoanalysis.
One of the criticisms of psychoanalysis is to look at humans in a deterministic
way so that it is considered to weaken human dignity as an individual who is full of
dynamics and has freedom. Deterministic behavior is caused by irrational forces,
motivations subconscious, biological drives, and instincts. The central concern of
psychoanalysis is instinctive drive. Human development determined in childhood is
one description of the view of pessimism and passivity toward humans. Approach
psychoanalysis is clinical and emphasizes psychic energies and does not recognize
aspects cognitive. The position of the individual is determined only by the model of
development in childhood has implications for the emergence of criticism and new
theories that have different perspectives on psychoanalysis. In the 1950s many
experiments were carried out by psychologists and therapists in an effort to develop
human potential, one of the new findings obtained is to consider the importance of
learning factors in humans, which to obtain results Optimal learning requires
“reinforcement” so that this theory emphasizes two the important thing is learning and
reinforcement as well as the achievement of a change in behavior. Further
development of this theory is known as behavior therapy in the behaviorism group,
which was developed through experimental research.
2. Problem Formulation
a. What is a behavioral approach in counseling?
b. What is the history of the development behavioral approach?
c. How to apply the behavioral approach?

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 CHAPTER II
THEORY AND DISCUSSION
1. Definition of Behavioral Approach
Behavioral is one of the streams in psychology. A behavioral approach is an
approach that emphasizes the cognitive dimension of the individual and offers a
variety of action-oriented methods to help take clear steps in changing behavior.
Meanwhile, according to Baraja, the behavioral approach views that the problems
faced by individuals are due to individuals being wrong in making decisions or taking
attitudes to do an action.
Behaviorism views human behavior as largely determined by conditions
external environment and the engineering or conditioning of the human being. This
genre assumes that humans are neutral, good, or bad behavior determined by the
situation and treatment experienced by the human being. Behaviorism views
individuals only from the side of physical phenomena and ignores mental aspects.
The Behavioral approach relies on the concept of stimulus and response where
an individual will behave according to the stimulus he receives, learn it then
determine the response to the stimulus. Behaviorism is a theoretical orientation based
on the premise that psychology should be scientifically based on the study of
observed behavior (observational behavior).
The theory of behaviorists is better known by the name of learning theory
because all human behavior is the result of learning. Learning means a change in
behavior organisms as environmental influences. Behaviorism does not want to
question whether a human is good or bad, rational, or emotional. Behaviorism only
wants to know how his behavior is controlled by factors of the environment.
The behavioral approach does not outline certain philosophical assumptions
about humans directly. Everyone is seen as having the same positive and negative
tendencies. Humans on basically formed and determined by the socio-cultural
environment, entirely human behavior are learned.
2. History of Behavioral Approach
The behavioral approach had its origin in the 1950s and early 1960s and it was
a radical departure from the dominant psychoanalytic perspective. Contemporary
behavior therapy arose simultaneously in the U.S., South Africa, and Great Britain in
the 1950s. In spite of harsh criticism and resistance from traditional psychotherapists,
the approach survived. Its focus was on demonstrating that behavioral conditioning

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 techniques were effective and were a viable alternative to traditional psychotherapy.
In the 1960s, Albert Bandura developed social learning theory, which combined
classical and operant conditioning with observational learning. During the 1960s a
number of cognitive behavioral approaches sprang up, and they still have a significant
impact on therapeutic practice. It was during the 1970s that behavior therapy emerged
as a major force in psychology and made a significant impact on education,
psychology, psychotherapy, psychiatry, and social work.
In the 1980s, behavior therapists continued to subject their methods to
empirical scrutiny and to consider the impact of the practice of therapy on both their
clients and the larger society. Increased attention was given to the role of emotions in
therapeutic change, as well as the role of biological factors in psychological disorders.
Two significant developments in the field were; (1) the continued emergence of
cognitive behavior therapy as a major force, and (2) the application of behavioral
techniques to the prevention and treatment of medical disorders. By the late 1990s,
there were at least 50 journals devoted to behavior therapy and its many offshoots.
Behavior therapy is marked by a diversity of views and procedures but all
practitioners focus on observable behavior, current determinants of behavior, learning
experiences to promote change, and rigorous assessment and evaluation. The four
areas of development are as follows: 1) classical conditioning, 2) operant
conditioning, 3) social learning theory, and 4) cognitive behavior therapy.
3. Application of behavioral approach in counseling
The behavioral approach is essentially a process of helping individuals to learn
to solve interpersonal, emotional, and certain decisions. The relationship between the
counselor and the counselee is very dependent on the problem faced by the counselee.
Problem alleviation requires a lot of practice will lead the counselor to act more as a
coach or instructor.
The steps in behavioral counseling vary, none of a certain standard pattern.
However, the counseling process is framed by a framework for teaching counselees to
change their behavior. The counseling framework in question is:
A. Counseling relationship development
The counselor builds a good relationship with the counselee through
acceptance of the condition of the counselee as it is an individual value, the
appearance of the counselor sincerely before the counselee, and understanding
the condition of the counselee empathetically.

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B. Identification of problems (assessment)
In this stage, the counselor helps the counselee to express that the
circumstances he actually experienced were related to the problem he was
experiencing. Specifically, at this stage, the counselor digs up information
about the counselee's problem and determines the nature of the problem the
counselee, which then determines the basic data of the counseling problem:
frequency, duration, and intensity. Assessment is required to obtain
information on which model to choose according to the behavior you want to
change. Kanfer and Saslow in Rosjidan, suggest that there are six things that
are necessary to identify in the assessment stage, namely: a) Analyze the
problematic behavior that the counselee is currently experiencing, b) Analyze
situations or events that initiate behavior and follow that behavior, c)
Analyzing the counselee's motivation in carrying out typical everyday
behaviors related to problems experienced by the counselee, d) Analyzing
self-control in counselees is related to how the level of self-control is counsel
for problematic behavior. Besides that, analyze how the counselee exercises
self-control and what impact has it had so far, e) Analyze the counselee's
social relations with identify a number of close people or influence (significant
other) that has a relationship and contributes to the counselee's problems, f)
Analyze the physical environment of the counselee's socio-culture. This is
related to basing it on the rules or norms that exist in the counselee's
environment.
C. Goal setting
At this stage, the counselor takes steps to formulate counseling purposes.
Based on the basic data from the problem identification stage, the counselor
and the counselee set specific counseling goals. Specific goals refer to
operational or realistic and positive goals (can be done by counselees and
possibilities the benefits and disadvantages and lead to the desired change
according to the results of counseling), measurable, and observable behavior
based on the information obtained from the assessment step is analyzed. In
this case, the counselor and counselee compile important points to formulate
goals to be achieved in counseling. Generally, the stage of formulating goals
also provides motivation for changing the behavior of the counselee and
guides which techniques will be used. There are 3 stages in the goal-setting

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 phase: a) Helping the counselee view the problem on the basis of the desired
goal, b) Paying attention to the counselee's goals based on possible situational
barriers to goals acceptable and measurable learning, c) Dividing the goals
into sub-goals and arranging the goals into sequential order.
D. Technique implementation
At this stage, the counselor brainstorms with the counselee to determine and
implement strategies or behavior change techniques that will be used to
achieve the desired behavior (excessive behavior and needs to be
reduced/excessive or minimal behavior that needs to be improved/deficit) and
becomes the goal of counseling. The counselor determines the technique
according to the goals and problems experienced by the counselee. The
counselor focuses on helping the counselee to learn as well as apply behavior
change strategies based on learning principles in order to get the desired and
effective behavior. In implementing techniques, counselors compare changes
in behavior between baseline data and intervention data.
E. Evaluation and Termination
The counselor conducts assessment activities whether the counseling activities
that have been carried out lead to and achieve results in accordance with the
goals of counseling. Evaluation is carried out on the basis of the behavior that
the counselee has done. Counselee behavior is used as a basis for evaluating
the effectiveness of the counselor and the effectiveness of certain techniques
used. In particular, the counselor evaluates the comparison between behavior
after counseling and the basic data before counseling. after the evaluation is
carried out, it is followed by termination. Termination is more than ending
counseling. In this case, the termination includes, a) Testing what the
counselee did last, b) Explore the possible need for additional counseling, c)
Helping the counselee realize what is learned in the counseling process into
the counselee's daily behavior, d) Helping the counselee to continuously
monitor his behavior.
In addition, at this stage, the counselor also provides and analyzes feedback to
improve and enhance the counseling process. The counselor and the counselee
evaluate the implementation of the techniques that have been carried out and
determine an agreement on the duration of the intervention until the expected
behavior settles.

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 In applying the behavioral approach, there are two kinds of techniques,
namely: 1) techniques to increase behavior such as positive reinforcement, token
economy (shaping), and contingency contracting, 2) techniques for reducing behavior
such as extinction, time-out, flooding, satiation, punishment, aversion therapy, and
systematic desensitization.
A. Technique to increase behavior.
a. Positive reinforcement. Is the provision of pleasant reinforcement after
the desired behavior is displayed so that the desired behavior tends to
be repeated, increased, and settled in the future. Different from
negative reinforcement, that is an event or something that makes the
desired behavior less likely to be repeated. Reinforcement can be
unpleasant or have no impact on changing the goal behavior.
Examples of positive and negative reinforcement:

Application Behavior Consequences Possible effect

Positive Cleaning the Praised by parents Will continue to

reinforcement bedroom clean the bedroom

Negative Complain because at Parents allow not to Will continue to

reinforcement school there are go to school miss school
friends who beat and
do not want to go to
school.
Types of reinforcement consist of; Primary reinforcer, secondary
reinforcer, and contingency reinforcement.
The steps for giving reinforcement are; 1) problem identification with
ABC analysis, 2) Select the target behavior that you want to change, 3)
Establish initial data (baseline) initial behavior, 4) Choose meaningful
reinforcement, 5) Determine the reinforcement schedule, 6)
Implementation of positive reinforcement.

Problem example
Boy is often late for school. His mother failed to get Boy to get ready for school sooner.
His mother prepared a gift by saying "if Boy is ready to go to school at 6.20, he will receive
a remote control car as a prize." When Boy is able to get ready at 6:20, his mother gifts him
a remote control car. This is done several times until the expected behavior is formed. If the
prize for the remote control car is removed for a long time, Boy will probably be late again.

From this illustration, new behaviors that arise solely because of gifts are the principles of
Pavlov's "classical conditioning" learning. The conditions are different when using

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Skinner's operant conditioning principle which provides reinforcement when the child can
independently behave as expected. The new behavior that appears will tend to settle down
because awareness emerges from himself.
b. Token economy. Is a strategy of giving reinforcement indirectly
through awards that can be exchanged later on with something the
counselee wants (tokens). The token economy is based on the principle
of strengthening Skinner's operant conditioning. The token economy
aims to develop adaptive behavior through reinforcement with tokens.
When the desired behavior has tended to settle down, tokens are
gradually reduced. Selection of reinforcement according to the needs
and interests of the counselee.
c. Shaping. Is the formation of new behavior that has not previously been
displayed by providing systematic and direct reinforcement every time
the behavior is displayed. This technique can be applied to autistic
children whose motor, verbal, emotional, and social behavior is less
adaptive given primary or secondary reinforcement.
d. Behavior contract. A behavior contract is a strategy for changing
behavior by regulating the condition of the counselee based on a
contract between the counselee and the counselor. The terms of a good
contract are; (1) clarity about what is expected of both parties
(counselor and counselee), (2) clarity in the level of occurrence of
behavior and rewards, (3) clarity in the monitoring system (4) clarity in
the system of sanctions, (5) there are written provisions, and (6) the
clarity of the bonus system, especially for long-term contracts.
e. Modeling. Modeling is based on Bandura's principles of social
learning. The terms used for this technique are modeling, imitation,
and observational learning. Modeling shows the occurrence of a
learning process through observation of other people who provide
changes in behavior through imitation. Modeling is a learning process
through observation by adding or subtracting observed behavior and
generalizing various observations which also involve cognitive
processes.
B. Techniques to reduce behavior

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a. Extinction. Is a strategy to change behavior by stopping reinforcement
of behavior that was previously reinforced.
b. Time out. Is a behavior change strategy by setting aside individual
opportunities to get positive reinforcement. This technique can be used
in class, for students who behave unexpectedly and need to be isolated
or moved from other students at certain and limited times.
c. Flooding. Is a behavior modification technique by flooding the
counselee with conditions or causes of anxiety or unwanted behavior
until the counselee realizes that something that is worried about does
not happen. This technique is based on Skinner's principles and is
suitable for treating phobias. The flooding technique assumes that the
counselee is repeatedly faced with an anxiety-producing situation and
the frightening consequences do not appear, so the anxiety will
disappear. The application of the flooding technique must be careful
because there may be very high emotional reactions from the
counselee.
d. Satiation. Saturation (satiation) is a way to change individual behavior
by making the counselee bored with the behavior so that he is not
willing to do it again. Saturation is a variant of flooding for self-
control. Reducing or eliminating unwanted behavior, it can be done by
providing more and more continuous reinforcement so that the
individual feels satisfied and will not perform unwanted behavior
again.
e. Punishment. Is an operant conditioning intervention to reduce
unwanted behavior. Punishment consists of an unpleasant stimulus as a
consequence of behavior. Punishment is often used to reduce
behavioral tendencies, not to eliminate the behavior, so that when
punishment is removed, the behavior will reappear. Punishment
sometimes has more negative emotional effects such as anger and
depression. Therefore, when punishment is used, it must be
accompanied by positive reinforcement. Unwanted behavior is only
suppressed when there is punishment. The effect of punishment can be
generalized to other behaviors related to the behavior being punished,

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 for example, children are punished for being late as a result children
don't like school.
f. Aversion therapy. Is used to relieve/eliminate specific behavioral
disorders that involve associating symptomatic behavior with painful
stimuli so that unwanted behavior is inhibited from occurring.
Unpleasant stimulus together with the stimulus to be controlled. In this
aversion technique, it is hoped that the process of reversing
reinforcement will occur from feeling happy/proud to hurt others into
reinforcements such as compassion, fear, and guilt of seeing other
people get hurt. Stimuli that are not liked (aversive stimuli) will create
an unpleasant stimulus along with the stimulus that you want to
control.
g. Systematic desensitization. Is essentially a relaxation technique used to
remove a behavior that is negatively reinforced, usually anxiety, and it
includes a response that is opposite to the behavior to be eliminated.
The means used in a relaxed state of anxiety-provoking stimuli are
paired in sequence from the least to the most anxious. Counselees are
trained to remain relaxed when facing the worrisome stimulus. This
situation will be repeated so that the stimulus that causes anxiety
gradually disappears from the anxiety it experiences.

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 CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION
The Behavioral Approach is an approach that emphasizes individual cognitive
dimensions and offers various action-oriented methods to help take clear steps to change
behavior. This approach is essentially a process of helping individuals to learn to solve
interpersonal, emotional, and certain decisions.
The behavioral approach was developed by Albert Bandura in the 1960s, and during
the 1970s, it was a major force in psychology and made a significant impact on education,
psychology, psychotherapy, psychiatry, and social work. In the 1980s, behavior therapists
continued to subject their methods to empirical scrutiny and to consider the impact of the
practice of therapy on both their clients and the larger society. Two significant developments
in the field are the emergence of cognitive behavior therapy as a main force and the
application of behavioral techniques to the prevention and treatment of medical disorders.
The steps in the behavioral approach vary, there is no set formula for the processes
taken in behavioral counseling. Yet, a framework for instructing counselees to improve their
conduct frames the counseling process. Also, there are two techniques in applying the
behavioral approach; 1) techniques to increase behavior such as positive reinforcement, token
economy (shaping), and contingency contracting, 2) techniques for reducing behavior such as
extinction, time-out, flooding, satiation, punishment, aversion therapy, and systematic
desensitization.

The Behavioral Approach is an approach that emphasizes individual cognitive dimensions

and offers various action-oriented methods to help take clear steps to change behavior. Two
significant developments in the field are the emergence of cognitive behavior therapy as a
main force and the application of behavioral techniques to the prevention and treatment of
medical disorders.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://cdn-gbelajar.simpkb.id/s3/p3k/BimbinganKonseling/Modul
%20Pembelajaran/Bimbingan%20Konseling%20-%20PB5.pdf
https://courses.aiu.edu/COUNSELING%20SKILLS/5/5.pdf
http://staffnew.uny.ac.id/upload/132297302/penelitian/B.1c.Artikel+Ilmiah-
Teori+dan+Aplikasi+Behavioristik+dalam+Konseling.pdf
https://journal.ikipsiliwangi.ac.id/index.php/fokus/article/download/
485/1485#:~:text=Pendekatan%20behavioral%20berfokus%20pada
%20pengubahan,tidak%20melakukan%20kegiatan%20yang%20buruk.

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