Multimodal Therapy

Multimodal Therapy

Multimodal Therapy is an approach to psychotherapy founded by Arnold Lazarus. It is based on the idea that humans are biological beings that think, feel, act, sense, imagine, and interact; and that each of these "modalities" should be addressed in psychological treatment. Multimodal assessment and treatment is built around the acronym "BASIC I.D.": (i.e., seven interactive and reciprocally influential dimensions of personality/psychology or "modalities" which are Behavior, Affect, Sensation, Imagery, Cognition, Interpersonal relationships, and Drugs/biology, respectively).

Multimodal Therapy originated within the context of Behavior Therapy and, later, the framework of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy ("CBT"). Indeed, Arnold Lazarus introduced the terms "behavior therapy" and "behavior therapist" into the professional literature in 1958. During his pioneering work in the clinical arena of CBT, Arnold Lazarus realized that more areas of psychosocial functioning often needed to be addressed in therapy than merely actions and thoughts. This led him to expand the model of traditional CBT by incorporating additional modalities for assessment and treatment. This was briefly referred to as "broad-spectrum behavior therapy," and ultimately became Multimodal Therapy.

Multimodal Therapy embraces "technical eclecticism", or the idea that treatment can and should consist of techniques from many different theoretical perspectives, without the clinician necessarily adopting the theoretical basis for those techniques. While Multimodal therapists enjoy a great deal of flexibility in terms of technique selection, they are expected to consult relevant research and to favor research-backed techniques over techniques without research backing. Much emphasis is placed on tailoring treatment to the individual client. What's more, rather than using traditional diagnostic nomenclature, Multimodal Therapy uses several methods to identify specific problems within the various BASIC I.D. modalities and proposes specific therapeutic interventions for each identified problem.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Multimodal therapy — is approach to psychotherapy founded by Arnold Lazarus. It is based on the idea that humans are biological beings that think, feel, act, sense, imagine, and interact; and that each of these modalities should be addressed in psychological… …   Wikipedia

  • multimodal — adjective Date: 1902 having or involving several modes, modalities, or maxima < multimodal distributions > < multimodal therapy > …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Мультимодальная терапия (multimodal therapy) — Многие клиницисты используют многомерные и многогранные процедуры обследования и лечения, к рые они часто обозначают термином М. т. Однако, хотя деятельность большинства психотерапевтов внешне выглядит эклектичной и мультимодальной, лишь немногие …   Психологическая энциклопедия

  • multimodal — mul·ti·mo·dal .məl ti mōd əl adj relating to, having, or utilizing more than one mode or modality (as of stimulation or treatment) <multimodal cancer therapy involving surgery, immunotherapy, and radiation> * * * mul·ti·mo·dal (mul″te …   Medical dictionary

  • Cognitive behavioral therapy — Psychology …   Wikipedia

  • Cognitive therapy — This article is about Aaron Beck s Cognitive Therapy. For the superordinate school of psychotherapy, see Cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive therapy Intervention MeSH D015928 Cognitive therapy (CT) is a type o …   Wikipedia

  • Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy — (MBCT) is psychological therapy which blends features of cognitive therapy with mindfulness techniques of Buddhism. MBCT involves accepting thoughts and feelings without judgement rather than trying to push them out of consciousness, with a goal… …   Wikipedia

  • Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy — (REBT) is a comprehensive, active directive, philosophically and empirically based psychotherapy which focuses on resolving emotional and behavioral problems and disturbances and enabling people to lead happier and more fulfilling lives. REBT was …   Wikipedia

  • List of psychology topics — This page aims to list all topics related to psychology. This is so that those interested in the subject can monitor changes to the pages by clicking on Related changes in the sidebar. It is also to see the gaps in Wikipedia s coverage of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health — Claims Proponents claim that illnesses can be treated by reconnecting physiological functioning with the body s inner intelligence through reducing and eliminating impurities and imbalances. Related scientific disciplines Medicine Year proposed… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”