ABSTRACT
Like other clinical psychologists, those who employ cognitive-behavioral treatment interventions conduct assessments for such purposes as describing and understanding clients’ problems and monitoring therapeutic change (Cone, 1998). In doing so, these psychologists draw from a range of concepts and specific assessment methods known collectively as behavioral assessment. Historically, this distinct group of methods was necessary because pioneer behavior therapists such as Joseph Wolpe, Teodoro Ayllon, and Nathan Azrin were making what were then considered to be highly nontraditional assumptions about etiology, assessment, and treatment. For example, in the 1950s, when behavior therapy began to emerge as a systematic clinical enterprise, psychoanalytically oriented therapists looked for unconscious causes underlying mental disorders, and examined their clients for signs of across-the-board personality traits and enduring defensive styles. By contrast, behaviorally oriented therapists looked for behavioral contingencies and reinforcers influencing particular client behaviors, and assessed their clients’ specific responses to particular situations.
