Salter's conditioned reflex therapy: what it is and how it is used


Author: Roger Morrison
Date Of Creation: 27 September 2021
Update Date: 20 March 2024
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Andrew Salter and Conditioned Reflex Therapy by Mark R. Davis and Etan Ilfed
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Content

A type of therapy linked to the expression of emotions.

Broadly speaking, we can say that assertiveness is the ability to say "no" to requests or favors that we do not want to do. This term was coined by J. Wolpe in 1958, although A. Salter had already used the concept in your conditioned reflex therapy.

Salter's conditioned reflex therapy is a model of assertive therapy, which seeks to promote the open expression of the patient, reducing inhibition and promoting action. The therapy focuses above all on enhancing the emotional expression of the patient. Let's see what it consists of.

  • Related article: "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: what is it and on what principles is it based?"

Previous concepts: assertiveness

Assertiveness is a social skill that allows us defend one's rights, interests and ideas clearly and honestly, without hurting or harming others.


One of the first authors to speak of assertive training was A. Salter. In 1949 he published a book entitled Conditioned Reflex Therapy, who talked about the negative effects of emotional conditioning and not being assertive. In his work he presented a model with different procedures to address assertiveness problems.

For A. Salter, assertiveness referred to the ability of a person to express their emotions (excitatory personality). Lack of assertiveness alluded to inhibition or difficulty expressing emotions (inhibitory personality).

However, although Salter was among the first to speak of assertiveness, it was none other than J. Wolpe who coined the term, basing the concept on Salter's work. Wolpe first used the term in his book, Reciprocal Inhibition Psychotherapy, in 1958.

  • You may be interested: "Assertiveness: extending self-esteem towards social relationships"

Salter's conditioned reflex therapy: characteristics

To develop Salter's conditioned reflex therapy, Salter used Pavlov's contributions on conditioned reflexes and the knowledge of the fundamental processes of higher nervous activity, that is, the processes of excitation and inhibition, as we have mentioned previously.


Thus, Salter relates mental disorders with inhibitory processes (inhibitory personality), and mental health with excitatory processes (excitatory personality).

The role of the therapist in Salter's therapy is to promote in the patient the overcoming of their inhibitions. It will be sought that he can freely express his own feelings. Many times patients have suffered excessive inhibitory conditioning that has caused them some suffering in previous stages of their life. This occurred because such inhibition exceeded the social requirements of the person.

On the other hand, Salter's conditioned reflex therapy focuses on two fundamental ideas:

1. Instruction offered to patients

This will be aimed at that patients act more and think less. Salter (cited in Balarezo, 2003) points out in his work that "The healthy act without thinking and the sick think without acting."

2. Use of the 6 basic techniques in psychotherapy

These 6 techniques are as follows:


2.1. Externalization of feelings

It is intended that the patient express his feelings and thoughts freely, without inhibitions.

2.2. Feelings facial expression

The patient is trained to learn to identify and recognize their facial expressions and their relationship to emotions and their expression.

2.3. Contradiction and attack when you do not agree on the expositions of others

It is about training the patient to express their disagreement with the opinions or points of view of others. This can be done verbally and / or behaviorally.

2.4. Use of the word "I" deliberately in the greatest number of cases

The objective is the patient to use pronouns and words that refer to himself (for example me, me, mine ...), and that he does it more frequently than he does currently.

2.5. Acceptance and recognition of compliments

It is about the patient being able to recognize and accept praise, and not to use an attitude of false modesty when praising you.

2.6. Encourage the ability to improvise

The patient will be trained so that they can improvise their behaviors and not plan them excessively, which may arise spontaneously when the situation requires it.

Other techniques used by Salter

In Salter's conditioned reflex therapy, special emphasis is placed on the patient focusing their attention on the here and now, that is, attend to your own present behaviors, feelings, and thoughts.

The therapeutic tasks employed by Salter focused on dealing with the problematic situations of reality (live). It could be considered in a way an antecedent to exposure techniques. He also used relaxation techniques and pleasant images as tools to cope with and reduce anxiety, as well as to promote appropriate or desired behaviors. These techniques could be the precedents for systematic desensitization.


Bibliographic references:

  • Salter, A. (1949): Conditioned Reflex Therapy, New York.
  • Zaldívar, D. (1994). Assertive therapy: a strategy for its use. Cuban Journal of Psychology, 11 (1), 53-64.
  • Balarezo, Lucio. (2003). Psychotherapy. Quito: Publications Center of the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, 150 - 154.

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