Addiction Considerations, Self-Empowerment, and Resolutions

"William James, in 1890, applied what he referred to as his functionalist approach pertaining to behavior, as published in his book The Principles of Psychology. At about the same time, Sigmund Freud began developing his theoretical concepts, which would later form the foundation of psychoanalysis. In the early 20th century, John B. Watson explored the concept of behaviorism with the publication of his book in 1913, titled Psychology as the Behaviourist Views It."

"All of these influences converged in the mid-20th century with the eventual applied research of Albert Ellis and his Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (1955), and then, in the 1960s, Aaron Beck advanced these theories further with his applied concept of Cognitive Therapy (which combined behavioral techniques with his concept of "cognitive restructuring"; i.e., changing thinking to change behavior). This applied process then helped advance the process that became behavior therapy."

"In 1965, William Glasser published Reality Therapy, which focused on the existential principle that if a person wanted to make changes in their life, the only way these changes could take place was in the "reality of the present." Glasser argued that focusing on past events was neither helpful nor beneficial. That is because, according to Glasser, the only place where changes could take place in a person's life was, as noted, in the immutable existential present."

19th- and 20th-century psychological movements examined agency and personal responsibility through distinct frameworks. William James applied a functionalist approach to behavior in 1890. Sigmund Freud developed theoretical concepts that formed the foundation of psychoanalysis. John B. Watson formulated behaviorism in 1913. Mid-20th-century practitioners translated these theories into applied therapies: Albert Ellis developed Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (1955), and Aaron Beck advanced Cognitive Therapy in the 1960s by combining behavioral techniques with cognitive restructuring. William Glasser's 1965 Reality Therapy emphasized that change occurs in the present. These developments collectively contributed to the emergence and recognition of cognitive behavioral therapy.

Read at Psychology Today