Psychotherapy is a form of treatment for a patient with a mental disorder. The therapy allows the patient to help them understand their illness. They are then followed up with tools to treat their illness and behaviors. (NIMH) One type of psychotherapy is behavioral therapy, in which the psychologist uses basic learning techniques to change maladaptive behavior patterns by replacing unwanted thoughts with new, happier responses. (NIMH) Behavioral therapies are based on classical conditioning theory. The premise is that all behaviors are learned, therefore creating poor behavior. Therapy allows the patient to stop the behavior or correct it. (Simply psychology) Behavioral therapy is used for many different types of disorders, anxiety or other mental disorders. More specifically, it is used to treat anxiety disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. The behavioral therapy technique is also useful when a psychologist treats autism, substance abuse, and even eating disorders (healthline). For anxiety disorders, treatment allows the patient to learn that the tools provided to face their fears will ultimately decrease the anxiety. Behavioral therapies have been considered one of the best treatments for eating disorders because the therapy reduces the risk of relapse in patients suffering from the disorder, as well as reducing the symptoms of any other eating disorders they may not have. The schizophrenic patient learns a more helpful and realistic understanding of events and learns coping techniques when the patient is dealing with hallucinations using behavioral therapy. The patient also learns about life... halfway through the paper... or over a 12 month period. (BBC) Therefore, behavioral therapy can be used to treat multiple disorders, be they anxiety or mental disorders. The therapy also has limited side effects for participating in the therapy. If it were not for Ivan Pavlov and BF Skinner, this therapy would not exist and psychologists would not be able to help patients overcome their bad behaviors and introduce new ones to combat their disorders. Works Cited “Behavioral Therapy.” Simply psychology. Saul McLeod. 2010. Network. April 25, 2014. “Behavioral Therapy.” Health line. Kristen Cherney. June 4, 2013.Web. April 25, 2014. “Behavioral Therapy.” The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 6th ed. Columbia University Press. 2012. “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.” Choices of the National Health Service. NP and Web. April 25, 2014. “Cognitive behavioral therapy 'may reduce depression'.” BBC. Nd Web. 25 April. 2014.