PH 530A - Behaviorally Oriented Techniques I

The course covers five main areas: (a) wellness and community / group psychophysiology, (b) operant and classical conditioning, (c) imagery, (d) cognitive restructuring, and (e) meditation techniques. Wellness programs for maintaining and increasing the health of individuals and of specific communities such as students in a class, older people in an assisted living community, workers in an office or factory are becoming increasingly popular. The evidence supporting the efficacy of these programs is reviewed and ways to optimize such programs, in light of this evidence, for different groups is discussed. Classical operant and instrumental conditioning are powerful tools which can be used to shape the behavior of individuals and groups in the work/school and clinical setting. The history of, supporting evidence for, and basic techniques for each type of conditioning are presented. The standard techniques of self-hypnosis, and imagery training are described and students are taught the elements of their application. Uses of these techniques with specific types of patients and integration of these techniques into other behavioral medicine interventions is discussed. The history, supporting efficacy studies, and basis for the major meditation techniques are described in relation to self-regulation. 3 credit(s)

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