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This approach to the treatment of mental disorders draws upon principles derived from experimental psychology—mainly learning theory. As described by Joseph Wolpe in The Practice of Behavior Therapy (1973), In the treatment of phobias, behavioral therapists seek to modify and eliminate the avoidance response that patients manifest when confronted with a phobic object or situation. Such confrontation is in fact crucial; although a person’s avoidance of the anxiety-producing situation does indeed reduce anxiety, the conditioned association of the phobic situation with the experience of anxiety remains unchallenged and therefore persists, often to the point of limiting normal activity. Behavior therapy ...(100 of 23136 words)