Behavioral therapy includes a number of techniques that help nurse mental health disorders. It is a mechanism built upon the concept that all behaviors are learned, and can be altered if they are identified and treated in the right way.

 Some of the most frequently treated disorders are panic disorders, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders, and others.

 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy [CBT]: This therapy technique is a combination of behavioral therapy and cognitive therapy. While behavioral therapy is centered around patterns of action, cognitive therapy is centered around patterns of thought. Its main focus is on understanding how the thoughts and mindset of an individual impacts their actions. Rather than dealing with the problems of an individual's past, it nurses one’s current issues, so as to achieve long-term security and peace of mind.

It is a talking treatment that helps a person break down a seemingly-large and overwhelming task into smaller, more achievable one’s, bettering one’s mental state on a day-to-day basis. Once the breakdown is complete with the help and guidance of an individual’s therapist, both will begin to evaluate the thoughts, actions and emotions of the individual and conclude whether or not they are reasonable and substantial.

On picking out the areas that do not help the individual, and have a negative impact on them, the therapist will then begin to provide guidance on how one can implement changes to counter these aspects. As the sessions progress, discussions will be held on the success of the implementation of the individual’s new strategies, and consequently the improvement in their day-to-day lives. Thereafter, an individual will always be able to combat their negative emotions whenever they experience them, and prevent these problems from having a long-lasting impact on their lives.

Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy: This method also combines cognitive and behavioral theories in order to improve the mental wellbeing of children, most often between the ages of 2 ½ to 8. Cognitive Therapy focuses mainly on irrational or unsettled behavior and thinking, and how to alter it so that an individual’s state of mind, and actions are more functional. However, this is not a practical approach for children. Children between the ages of 2 ½ to 8 are not fully aware of their own feelings, let alone of their surroundings, and the feelings of the people around them. During these early developmental stages, their actions and thoughts are unpredictable, and self-focused.

This is where the Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy model comes into effect. Simple language is used in order to communicate with children, and they are approached using toys, plushies, books, or other tools that these young individuals are more likely to connect to.

Instead of highlighting, and basing their treatment off of a child’s weaknesses, a therapist directs their attention towards bringing out their already existing strengths. They bring in the use of play in order to experiment and strategise with the children wherever possible, and stimulate the use of language from the children whenever the focus is on how the child is feeling at any particular moment.

Exposure Therapy: This is used in circumstances where an individual’s fear is synonymous with a certain setting, surrounding or object. For example, if someone has a fear of speaking in public due to social anxiety or stage fright, a therapist might give them a gentle push towards being in situations where they are exposed to these settings, in progressive stages, such that they eventually feel comfortable

There are a number of ways in which exposure therapy works for a person:

Habituation: As time progresses, due to increased exposure, individuals are less prone to their fears of the particular situation, setting or object.

Extinction: By being exposed to one’s fears, any type of harmful associations or perceptions that they may have in relation to their fear are essentially weakened. They might even be able to completely eradicate any negativity that they feel surrounding a certain situation, setting or object.

Self-efficacy: A person is shown that they have the ability and confidence to resist and conquer their anxiety and fears.

Emotional Processing: A person who has undergone exposure therapy will be able to overcome their older, baseless triggers, and attribute more realistic and legitimate beliefs. This allows them to feel calmer in the face of their fears.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy [ACT]: An individual must look for a mental health clinician, professional counselor, therapist or social worker who has training and experience in ACT in order to practice this method of behavioral therapy. The main function of this method is to broaden a person's psychological flexibility. This is essentially an individual's emotional capacity and their bandwidth for aligning their minds with their actions, so that a person is effectively able to achieve their goals.

There are six prime steps that one must take towards achieving psychological flexibility:

Acceptance

Cognitive Defusion

Being Present

Self as context

Values

Committed Action

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy [DBT]: This is designed similarly to that of cognitive behavioral therapy as well as psychoanalytic techniques, but it is specifically crafted for individuals who have extremely intense emotions. It is a type of talking therapy that makes it easier for one to comprehend and acknowledge their more complicated emotions. It was initially created with the intention of treating borderline personality disorder, but can also be utilised to help treat other severe mental health conditions.

There are four elements to DBT:

Core Mindfulness

Interpersonal Effectiveness [assists in bettering the relationship between one and themselves, as well as with others]

Emotional Regulation

Distress Tolerance

DBT helps people take one day at a time by being aware of their surroundings and themselves, and living in the present in contrast to becoming anxious and stressing over the future. It helps an individual regulate their harmful emotions and self-destructive behaviors. DBT can be performed through Group Therapy, Individual Therapy, or Phone Coaching.

Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction [MBSR]: Every individual has a certain level of expectation with almost everything in their lives- be it a specific situation, their relationship with someone, or even with themselves. One of the main inducers of stress for people is when their expectations of a certain aspect, does not meet the reality of it all. This causes them to be in distress, and anxious over something they have absolutely no control over. MBSR therapy is known to be a meditation therapy, and despite it being most popularly used to combat stress, it can also be used to nurse a number of other conditions, like depression, eating disorders, and anxiety.

MBSR pushes individuals to be mindful enough to exist in the present, instead of hyperfocusing on something that has already happened, or worrying about something that has not happened yet. This attempt at directing focus only to what is happening in the present moment while managing expectations eradicates both innate stress as well as stress caused by external factors. Some of the practices during MBSR sessions would include the following: Breathing Techniques, Gratitude Journaling, Group Dialogue, Home Assignments, Meditation or Yoga.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy [MBCT]: This method combines mindfulness, with cognitive behavioral therapy. MBCT directs people to focus on their emotions without being critical or biased about them. This state of self awareness and presence can be brought about using methods such as Mindfulness Meditation. Other techniques include Body Scan Exercises, Mindfulness Practices, Mindfulness Stretching, and Yoga.

For certain individuals, misconceptions and pessimistic beliefs in relation to themselves, translate into negative feelings that can intensify and result in depression. MBCT, with the use of cognitive therapy, allows an individual to locate, and reevaluate the negative thoughts that flood their minds, with a more realistic and objective perspective. On doing so, the likely result is that the negative emotions that an individual feels turns into slightly more positively regarded one’s.

Behavioral Activation: In this technique, an individual is encouraged to participate in activities that they normally would like to engage in. These activities could either be uplifting, or healthy for an individual. In other words, these activities are fulfilling and fuelling to either the mind, the body or both. Behavioral Activation is practiced in order to increase pleasant emotions, and give meaning to an individual’s life. A person may struggle with participating in activities that they may normally enjoy, when they are going through a slump or a depressive episode. They lose all motivation to pursue behavior that brings them genuine happiness. This is where behavior activation comes into being. No matter how unmotivated or even undeserving of happiness that an individual may feel in that moment, behavior activation encourages them to do at least a little bit of the activity that they enjoy on a daily basis. This prevents them from depriving themselves of all enjoyment during times that they feel unworthy, which would ultimately result in their condition worsening. In contrast, by practicing this, they may be reminded of the fact that they too deserve to feel ease and happiness, it would keep them physically and mentally active, and finally, avert them from being too hard on themselves.