Indian contribution to behavior therapy

Abstract

Publication of papers related to psycho-social interventions in general and Behavior Therapy, in particular, in Indian Journal of Psychiatry has been limited. Though the first paper related to Behavior Therapy was published in 1952, a manual search of all available issues of the journal from 1949 showed that only 42 papers related to Behavior Therapy have been published till 2009. Among them 10 are case reports. Methodological limitations abound even in the papers on larger groups of patients. Studies using operant conditioning have been very few. Aversion therapy and progressive muscle relaxation have been very frequently used. The published articles are reviewed under the various diagnostic categories. Publications in the recent years have been mostly on Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Even after 57 years of co-existence, the relationship between Behavior Therapy and Indian Psychiatry remains a tenuous one.

Keywords: Behavior therapy; behavior modification; behavioral intervention; cognitive behavior therapy; cognitive therapy.