​​ABA for Children

ABA is a specific form of behavior modification that is used to either increase or decrease socially significant behaviors. Such change is brought about through the use of a variety of techniques and principals.  ABA can be used to address issues with communication, social skills and adaptive living skills. It can also help children experiencing difficulties in such areas as academia, motor skills, dressing, eating and personal care. ABA is centred around the the process of systematically applying interventions to improve behaviour. 

Applied Behaviour Analysis is frequently applied in the treatment of intellectual disability and Autism, but has successfully been used to treat problem behaviours associated with ADD/ADHD, ODD and others. ABA can be especially helpful in changing problem behaviour in children and young people, although it may also be applied to unwanted behaviours in adults.

 

 

 

ABA for Adults

 

Third Generation Behaviour Therapy allows for the application of Applied Behaviour Analytic measures that can be very helpful for adult problem behaviours and can be applied in a less intensive manner through a one hour weekly appointment. Examples of such therapies include Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Relational frame Therapy and Functional Analytic Therapy.
 

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

ACT considers human suffering to be a result of psychological inflexibility in our relationship between our thoughts and the language we use to relate to them. Our behaviour is then directly affected by this inflexible relationship. We avoid experiences and lose contact with what is most important to us through negative evaluations about ourselves and our literal interpretations of our thoughts leading to distress. ACT aims to defuse our thoughts from our evaluations of self in order to allow us to live authentically and pursue meaningful values in our lives.
 

 

Relational Frame Therapy

RFT focuses on language and our tendency as humans to seek relations between stimuli in our world. In other words, we define ourselves and things around us by comparing them to other things, through the relations of “same”, “opposite”, “bigger than”, “smaller than” etc. This is how we develop our sense of self, and gaining an understanding of how we learned to think of ourselves in the way we do can help to address problems we may experience as a result of poorly developed or incorrect assumptions about ourselves.

 

 

Functional Analytic Psychotherapy

 

FAP looks at Client’s in-session behaviour as it may impact their therapeutic goals. It also examines how clients manage rule-governed behaviour, that is, the rules set out for us by society that we are expected to follow. It is heavily influenced by Behavioural Psychology and involves the delivery of reinforcement and focus is on managing behavioural contingencies in the lives of clients.