ABSTRACT
We believe that BA offers great promise as a simple, pragmatic treatment for depression. A BA clinician does not need to be steeped in behavioral theory but does need to appreciate the basics of functional contextualism and a broad de®nition of reinforcement and behavior. Most importantly, the BA clinician needs to be able to think about and conceptualize client problems functionally. With this understanding in place, the model and treatment of depression are relatively simple. In this book, we have tried to clarify this model and re-organize the existing BA techniques into a straight-forward structure that minimizes the need for advanced training and maximizes the power and ef®ciency of BA. It does this through a stepped-care approach that starts with simple activation and proceeds to more complex, individualized techniques only as necessary. In this way, this approach streamlines the therapeutic hour for each client and allows the clinician to allocate clinical time and resources to those clients who need it most. At the same time, the therapeutic experience of the client is rich, focused on values, purpose and meaning, and the therapeutic relationship may be intimate and intense, regardless of whether the treatment is brief or prolonged.
