The 4 types of Contextual Therapy: what they are and what are they based on

Throughout the history of psychology, therapies have evolved from a predominantly philosophical perspective to a much more empirical, thus developing behavioral therapies (first generation therapies) or cognitive-behavioral (second generation).

However, this trend is going down; being contextual therapies, or third generation therapies, increasingly common in clinical practice. The different types of contextual therapy are based on the philosophical current of the Functional Contextualism, whose basis is based on the results of research in the laboratory; and it has applications in any area of ​​human life.

• Related article: "The 10 most effective types of psychological therapy"

What is Contextual Therapy?

As already pointed out, contextual therapies receive their name from Functional Contextualism. From this perspective, the person and their behavior are studied within their context and not in isolation.

What's more, These therapies confer special importance on the patient's verbal behavior and the values ​​that the patient possesses.

. That is, what the patient says to himself and to others directly influences his behavior and his daily functioning.

Types of Contextual Therapy

Despite not being the only one, there are four models of contextual therapies that stand out from the rest. But all with a common objective: to alleviate the patient's mitigation through the elaboration of much more effective, extensive and elastic behavior patterns.

1. Mindfulness

The Mindfulness it has already become a reference therapy within contextual models. Although there is no specific word to refer to Mindfulness, the most accurate translation would be Mindfulness or Full Consciousness, among others.

Although as a general rule, we think that we are in control of our attention and our thoughts, the reality is that we are constantly attending to intrusive thoughts about the past or the future, or recording only a small part of what happens to us in the present.

This practice allows you to explore what is happening while it is happening. Accepting the experience as it is, whether it is positive or negative and accepting that it is part of our journey through life. This avoids the suffering caused by trying to make that unpleasant thing disappear.

Although Mindfulness is linked to many aspects of a more traditional psychology, such as exposure and self-regulation, it offers a degree of innovation within its own technique:

Focus on the present moment

It is about the patient focusing their attention and feeling things as they happen, without exerting any type of control over them. The benefit of this technique lies in the possibility of living a moment completely.

Radical acceptance

Unlike the usual procedure in psychology, radical acceptance aims for the patient to focus on their experiences without making any kind of assessment and accepting themselves as natural.

Choice of experiences

Although it seems that mindfulness preaches living personal experiences passively, this is not the case. People actively choose what goals and experiences in their life to engage in.

Control

The acceptance of our experiences supposes a renunciation of direct control of these. It is intended that the person experience their feelings and emotions as they happen. It is not about controlling discomfort, fear, sadness, etc., but to experience them as such. This point is opposed to the traditional procedures of psychology that seek the elimination of negative thoughts, or the control of anxiety.

These techniques allow the person to learn to relate directly to everything that is happening in her life at the present moment, becoming aware of your reality and consciously working on the challenges that life poses, such as stress, pain, illness, etc.

2. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

Dialectical behavioral therapy focuses on learning psychosocial skills. It combines various cognitive-behavioral techniques for emotional regulation with some of the typical concepts of contextual therapies, such as acceptance and fullness of consciousness or tolerance to distress and stressful events.

In DBT, the professional accepts and validates the patient's feelings. But at the same time, he makes her aware that some of these feelings that he experiences are maladaptive. Next, the therapist points out to the patient behavioral alternatives that will lead to more pleasant feelings.

It is a reference therapy in the treatment of para borderline personality disorder (BPD), as well as in patients who present symptoms and behaviors typical of mood disorders.

3. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

The Acceptance and commitment therapy It is a type of intervention that uses acceptance, understood as the ability to attend to sensations, thoughts, feelings, etc., together with the commitment to carry out actions consistent with the values personal.

ACT is based on the theory that psychological problems are based on language, making inevitable the thoughts and sensations that can be experienced as annoying. Through techniques such as metaphors, paradoxes, and experimental exercises, the patient learns to connect with those thoughts or sensations, recontextualizing them and shedding light on what really matters to you in his life. In order to do so, acquire the commitment with the necessary changes that they must carry out.

In addition, acceptance and commitment therapy is linked to strategies to improve flexibility. psychological, that is, the ability of the person to be present and adapt to the situations that are present; thus avoiding the psychological suffering produced by constantly avoiding contact with negative thoughts, emotions, or memories.

4. Analytical Functional Psychotherapy (FAP)

In addition to being considered a contextual or third generation therapy, it is also part of the movement called Clinical Behavior Analysis. What differentiates it from the rest of the therapies of this wave is the use of the therapeutic relationship as a way to promote change in the patient's behavior.

This therapy uses what the patient does and says during the therapeutic session, or what is termed as clinically relevant behaviors. These behaviors include thoughts, perceptions, feelings, etc., which must be made to occur within the treatment session in order to work with them.

Another category is the behavioral improvements that occur during these sessions and that need to be reinforced by the therapist. The objective of this type of therapy is to get the patient to make interpretations of their own behavior and the causes of it from the analytical-functional perspective.

For this, the therapist uses five strategies:

• Identification of clinically significant behaviors that occur during therapy sessions
• Construction of a context therapy that encourages the appearance of conflictive behaviors, to allow the positive development of the patient
• Positive reinforcement of patient improvements
• Detection of aspects of the patient's behavior that are reinforcing for this
• Favoring the development of skills and functional analysis of the relationship between their behaviors and other elements