Association for Behavior Analysis International

This symposium shows the utility of functional descriptive analysis to research in Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP). This is going to develop in four main actual issues and its future implications. First, it describes the kind of requirements and training that people needs when making the analysis and data collection in functional descriptive analysis with FAP. Second, it refers the assessment process in FAP, the functional descriptive analysis develop and it shows its use for establish the kind of variables have to be intervene. Third, it will show outcomes intervention based on functional descriptive analysis of interactions in session between therapist and client and suggest some issues to future research in this area. Finally, it is present a methodological propose about translational research in FAP based on functional analysis and its relevance to validate therapies into clinical behavior analysis.

Training for coders Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) requires a care process consisting on different elements to guarantee valid results in assessment therapy. At the beginning it was propose a codification training that needed 110 hours of rehearsal coding sessions, clinical experience by coders and handling manual FAPRS (Functional Analytic Psychotherapy Rating Scale) created by Callaghan, Summers and Weidman, (2003). After adopted functional descriptive analysis to coding therapeutic sessions it was implemented training in behavior analysis principles and main issues of functional analysis, this in order that coders learned to make functional relationships and to identify variables that influence in problem and goal behaviors occurrence (Cooper, Heron & Heward, 2007). This was carry in meetings where was presented cases to code, establishing codes of each consultant, exercises of functional analysis and behavioral analysis of each case, making arrangements between encoders to verify the process and the resolution of questions related with the analysis.

One of the moments of clinical practice is the evaluation. Kohlenberg and Tsai (2007) argue that the FAP evaluation methods are no different from those generally used. Interviews are used, records, session recordings, among others, to define a problem, generate a hypothesis and an intervention plan. In FAP, once identified the problem, it initiates an evaluation to look at if the problem appears in session and as it does. Evaluation is not a standard procedure in the context of behavior modification and FAP, functional analysis is the most used tool, because the interventions developed around this have shown a high probability of success (Vollmer, Marcus & LeBlanc, 1994). With regard to the measurement, in 2012, Mangabeira, Kanter and Del Prette conducted a literature review of 80 scientific articles on FAP between 1990 and 2010. They found that while is a large number of publications, it needs more empirical research, which has a high control variables and objectivity in measurement to understand the processes and effectiveness of therapy.

Identifying mechanisms underlying exchange functional analytical psychotherapy has set a major interest in Applied Research for Clinical Behavioral Analysis. Studies on the effectiveness of PAF in various problems (Velandia, 2012; Esparza, 2013) indicate the importance of specific manipulation of variables involved in the therapeutic relationship as a central element of change in verbal interaction by applying principles of behavior analysis . (Kohlenberg & Tsai, 1991 Novoa & Guzman, 2008; Tsai, Kohlenberg, Kanter, Holman & Plummer, 2012; Rodriguez - Naranjo, 1998; Dougher & Hayes, 2000). This study shows the relationships identified between client's behavior and therapist's conduct through descriptive functional analysis and discusses relationship between the basic mechanisms of intervention and predictability on the elements that must be manipulated to generate changes in consultants. The results show favorable changes in client's behavior in and out of session through their manipulation by the therapist of variables identified in session across functional analysis.