Social Learning Theory

The client in this case is John, a 35-year-old African American man who is dealing with an alcohol problem. He complains that he has crossed the line from the social drinking he was used to problem drinking. John says that his drinking problem began when he lost his job and is unable to meet his responsibilities. The friends that he hangs out with nowadays are also encouraging him to drink because they are also jobless. He has reported feeling ashamed about his drinking habits and occasionally lying to hide his drinking problem. He has began forgetting what he did while he was drunk. John has continuously tried to quite drinking but all his trials have been unsuccessful so far. John continues to drink even though it causes him problems and he needs counselling so as to get his life back on track.

Classical conditioning is a theory which assumed that all new behaviors are learned through association. Two catalysts in the environment are correlated and will produce a learned response (Weiss, 2014). Classical conditioning can produce both wanted and unwanted behaviors but it can also eliminate the same behaviors. Use of powerful cues can manipulate the addict to change behaviors. The reminder of the relationships between several adverse factors can be a major trigger for addicts. The triggers will happen and the addict will come back for more which triggers relapses. This is the reason why John tries his best to quit drinking but he is unsuccessful. The brain is linking the addictions that someone has through associations according to classical conditioning. There are some behaviors that have conditioned John to alcohol such as the company which he is keeping. Instrumental conditioning, on the other hand, is a different approach to conditioning. The instrumental conditioning looks at the cause and effect relationship between a behavior and its consequences (Weiss, 2014). The instrumental conditioning has a common-sense element in it. whenever a behavior is rewarded it ends up increasing but when something is punished there is a reduction of the behavior. Substance abuse such as the case of John with alcohol is only addictive because it is enjoyable and pleasurable. Using of the substance leads to a feeling of relief to the individual. When one does not enjoy some activities or substances, they are protected because they do find such behaviors rewarding.

There are various ways through which one can make use of conditioning to get John to change from his alcoholism. One of the techniques that can be used is systematic desensitization when using classical conditioning ("Complementary therapies for treating alcoholism," 2013). The technique involves getting John to make a list of his fears. These include the lack of provision because of lack of a job. When John writes down his fears that are leading him to the substance abuse. He can be taught several relaxation techniques to deal with the anxiety as opposed to always resulting to the alcohol. One can begin with several of the fears such as that of poverty and hunger and work upwards towards others helping him to reduce the fears. One starts with the list fear inducing item listed to the most feared one ensuring that he gets to the point of relaxation despite the circumstances that he might be undergoing. The second technique that can be used based on classical conditioning is aversion therapy. This form of therapy involves associating the undesirable behavior with an aversive stimulus. The negative stimulus will help to reduce the unwanted behavior ("Complementary therapies for treating alcoholism," 2013). John can be given disulfiram which will make him vomit whenever he is taking alcohol. John will become sick whenever he is taking alcohol and will therefore associate it with sickness. When looking at instrumental conditioning, one form of therapy that can be used is tokening. John can receive a token for everyday that he goes without taking alcohol. One can get a token marking the number of days that he has been sober. One other approach that he can make is contingency management. This involves writing down a contract between the client and the therapist showing the goals that one must meet as well as the rewards. The contingency management can be used with John to ensure that he does not go back to alcohol. He will be rewarded for being sober and going forward with the job search.

There are various things that might inhibit the therapeutic approaches that have been highlighted. One of the challenges that can be experienced is that of realistic hope (Weiss, 2014). When John lists his fears and one of the them is unemployment, for example, the therapist cannot offer hope that everything will be achieved. There is no guarantee that John will get a job immediately and there is need to be realistic on how much hope he is given. The other problem that the therapist can experience is the attitude and beliefs of the client. The African American community has not embraced counselling as a part of life especially when dealing with matters alcohol. It might be difficult to convince a client that the therapeutic techniques actually work.

References

Weiss, S. J. (2014). Instrumental and Classical Conditioning. The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Operant and Classical Conditioning, 417-451. doi:10.1002/9781118468135.ch17

Complementary therapies for treating alcoholism. (2013). Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 21(1), 77-81. doi: 10.1016/j.ctim.2012.10.002