Psychological treatment of impulsivity from the perspective of the third generation of behavior therapies. About a case report

Abstract

Aim: This paper show some key aspects of the treatment, in a public center of the Community of Madrid, of a subject with polydrug addiction with important impulsive behaviors. Method: The intervention realized belongs to the behavioral paradigm, using typical tools of the third wave of behavior therapy. In this sense, the therapeutic relationship was used as the context to apply contingencies that alter the functional problematic relations. In the intervention was also used roleplaying, exposures to circumstances where the patient was trying to implement alternative responses, and instructions to the educators of the treatment flat where he lived. All this psychological intervention was realized in the frame of a multidisciplinary approach, where the social worker and the doctor had an important role. Results: This intervention allowed the significant recovery of the patient in his vital important areas, and the achievement of therapeutic goals. Discussion: This work tries to show the usefulness, for the treatment of the acting-out, of the behavioral technology, and the different objectives with respect to other therapeutic approaches.