Good to know about BA.

I was happy to be able to broaden my knowledge on a recent wave of Behavior therapies ; manly Behavioral Activation, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Functional Analytic Psychotherapy. I was also surprised to know there was indeed a wide range of new therapies rooted on behavioral tradition : Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive therapy on top of aforementioned ones. Looks like more integrated approaches taking variation forms are continuously created, assessed, and validated, which is good to know.

Among them I particularilly liked BA’s approach : BA is designed to help individuals approach access sources of “positive reinforcement” in their lives, which can serve a natural antidepressant function(p.255, Jacobson, Martell, & Dimidjian(2004). I do agree with the concept and approach the researchers proposed. My experiences tell me that the positive reinforcement is very powerful in keeping and creating a good momentum in many aspects and it indeed works as a natural antidepressant. There was a certain time that I was very stressed under pressures of fulfilling obligations as a student and employee. Those skills and knowledge required for a good performance in each area was quite different. I had to be very good at time and work management as well as code switching from a student to employee and the other way round. Initially I was kind of ambitious and optimistic that I can well manage both, but things didn’t turn out to be that way with times. I was first frustrated, then got depressed, in spite of not to the extent to a disorder. Sometimes I soaked in to a feeling of self-pity with a thinking of why a life is so hard on me. If I compare what happened to me with “ACTION”(p, 264) Choose: Instead of waiting for the mood to naturally pick up, I decided go to Yoga class about 4 times a week over lunch time. For a starting phase, there seems to be more cost than benefit associated the trial; all my muscles were sours, I had to sneak out for a quick lunch and gave up having fun eating and talking with co-workers over lunch time. Try : I was not discouraged by the cost, and kept practicing Yoga. Integrate : practicing Yoga became my favorite routines. Observe : I noticed that I felt way much better especially when I was down. Not only did Yoga help me in emotional change, it also helped me sleep well and gain body flexibility and strength. Yes, I was reinforced with the positive outcomes I experienced. Never give up : for about 2 years I kept attending Yoga classes. Yoga was a powerful tool for me to snap out of negative mood and keep my spirit up. This had a great impact on my performance at both work and study, and therefore I was able to go through though times with rather stable and happy emotions.

I was a bit lengthy about BA approach based on my experience. It is not analytic from scholastic perspective, but I was glad to do some analysis as guided by the researchers. It was quite intriguing for me to associate some concepts and approaches with my own stuff.