This material is developed using information from three major sources: Chapter 6, Assertiveness Groups by Martha Davis, PhD, which appears in the book Focal Group Psychotherapy, Edited by Matthew McKay & Kim Paleg, 1992, New Harbinger Publications, Inc. Your Perfect Right: A Guide to Assertive Behavior, by Alberti and Emmons, Impact Publishers, 1970 and Chapter 10, Asserting Yourself Respectfully, from The Heart of the Mind by Connirae and Steve Andreas, Real People Press, 1989. The material has been modified to address the needs of children and adolescents in the educational and clinical settings of the CCIU – Assessment & Clinical Services.

Behavioral Assessment PDF Template Sample is designed for mental health professionals who treat people with behavioral disorders, specifically board certified behavior analysts (BCBA) and paraprofessionals in special education. Behavioral Health Awareness Training 6. Confirming belief in the new behavior. The goal of this training is to help the first-responder achieve confidence in seeking support for mental health challenges (the intended positive behavior modification). Once the positive behavior modification has been adopted, the first responder will set an example. Superior partners with Centene Behavioral Health to offer clinical behavioral health webinar trainings for providers. These trainings are led by licensed behavioral health practitioners with experience in addressing the behavioral health needs of children. To register for a training. This lesson is a new acronym, that pulls the module together. This is a review, more than a full lesson.

Clinical Prompt

Step A: Determine Readiness for Assertiveness Training
Step B. Language & Concepts
Step C. Learn To Distinguish Between the Three Modes of Communication
Step D. Define Criteria for Measuring Change in Assertive Behavior
Step E. Identifying Mistaken Traditional Assumptions and Countering Them With Assertive Rights
Step F. Confronting Fears About Being Assertive
Step G. Criticism as a Form of Manipulation
Step H. Assertive Position Statement
Step I. Assertive Listening

Forms & Charts

Form: CBT#23-001 Typical Response to Problem Situations
Form: CBT#23-002 Six Problematic Social Scenes
Form: CBT#23-003 Assertiveness Problems and Goals
Form: CBT#23-004 Identifying Mistaken Traditional Assumptions and Countering Them With Assertive Rights
Form: CBT#23-005 Confronting My Fears About Being Assertive
Form: CBT#23-006 Daily Criticism Journal
Form: CBT#23-007 Assertive Position Statements
Form: CBT#23-008 Brainstorming a Compromise

Introduction

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
But if I am for myself alone, what am I?
And if not now, when? Hillel

Many people do not believe that they have the right to be assertive. Many are highly anxious/fearful about being assertive. Many lack the social skills for effective self-expression. Such people find situations such as someone ‘cutting in line’ ahead of them, dealing with persuasive car salesman, or beginning a conversation with strangers to be quite difficult and threatening and seem unable to find the behavior which enables them to act in his/her own best interest, to stand up for him/herself without undue anxiety or aggression, to express honest feelings comfortably, and to exercise personal rights without denying the rights of others.

Assertiveness was originally described by Andrew Salter in the late 1940s as an innate personality trait. Wolpe (1958) and Lazarus (1966) redefined assertive behavior as “expressing personal rights and feelings”. They determined that assertiveness was situationally specific: most people can be assertive in some situations, and yet be ineffectual in others. Assertiveness training expands the number of situations in which a person can choose to be assertive.

When a person is passive, opportunities are lost and unpleasant situations are tolerated. In time, bad feelings can build to a point where one more events can trigger an explosion of resentment that in turn provokes upsetting criticism or rejection. Stress-related physiological responses can be caused by excessive passivity or aggression. Behavior that masks unpleasant thoughts and feelings may occur, such as drinking, withdrawal, or obsessing with physical symptoms (Gambrill, 197/8). Nonassertive behavior has been implicated in a wide range of presenting problems, including anxiety, depression, antisocial aggressive behavior, marital discord, and low-esteem (Ruben, 1985).

Aggressive patterns of communication are not assertive either. People with a great deal of anger, which could be viewed as the other side of fear, are often equally ineffective in representing themselves. While they may get immediate response, their effectiveness in meeting long range relationship goals are often marred.

Assertiveness training has been employed with a variety of populations, including grade school children, adolescents, college students, the elderly, psychiatric patients (both inpatient and outpatient), professional groups, women, alcoholics, addicts, and couples (Ruben, 1985).

The majority of assertiveness trainings focus on building assertive skills, modeling and rehearsal. The entire chain of behaviors, verbal and nonverbal, is presented, and the subject imitates it. Bandura (1969) has documented the effectiveness of modeling in establishing new behaviors and reducing avoidance behaviors.

While some clients may lack an assertive skill altogether, rehearsal usually reveals that most clients possess many of the necessary components of a skill which can be further “shaped” by instruction, positive feedback, and prompting during subsequent rehearsal. Practicing new behaviors in a safe environment reduces discomfort, particularly when rehearsal closely resembles the actual problem situation.

Symptom Effectiveness

A study by Lawrence (1970) found significant effects after only 12 minutes of rehearsal. Kazdin (1975) determined that covert modeling, in which clients imagine themselves or someone else dealing effectively with social situations, was as effective as actual rehearsal.

Graduated homework assignments can allow clients to apply their newly acquired assertive skills first to situations in which the likelihood of success is high and the degree of discomfort is minimal. Initial success tends to reduce anxiety, increase the probability that clients will generalize the new assertive behavior to other situations and encourage assertive behavior in more challenging situations.

23 Pdf Previewdialectical Behavioral Training Certification

Time for Mastery

The key to becoming more assertive is practice of new behavior patterns. However, there may be some merit to a systematic, step by step process which includes understanding of the language and concepts. While the twelve minutes indicated above are real, and the use of Neuro-Linguistic Programming processes may require no more than one-half hour, the inclusive process defined here, which includes teaching language, concepts, skills and providing in vivo practice, is one that is usually spread over several weeks in one hour segments.

Special Considerations

Some of the specific skills of assertiveness may require a maturity which is beyond a specific child. The Clinical Supervisor and the Mentor need to determine: a) if the child is ready to take the training, and/or b) how the training is modified to help this specific child benefit from the experience.

Instructions

The assertiveness training model described here emphasizes the building of assertiveness skills, using model presentation, rehearsal, positive feedback, prompting, covert modeling, and homework assignments. Basic assumptions regarding one’s assertive rights are made explicit, traditional assumptions and fears that inhibit assertive behavior are challenged, and the pros and cons of assertive and nonassertive behavior are explored.

There are three possible broad approaches to the conduct of interpersonal relations. The first is to consider one’s self only and ride roughshod over others…The second…is to always put others before one’s self…The third approach is the golden mean…The individual places himself first, but takes others into account. Joseph Wolpe

Step A: Determine Readiness for Assertiveness Training

Discussion: Assertiveness Training can be helpful for people with either passive or aggressive styles. However, it is often better to deal with some of the issues which provoke these styles before entering into Assertiveness Training. This step is to help the Clinical Supervisor make that determination.

Either give the child Form CBT#23-001 to fill out OR read and discuss the form with the child. The responses should tell you whether or not t