Contingency contracting

Domain II · Behavioural & cognitive · 1971

What it is

A contingency (behaviour) contract is a written, negotiated agreement that states which behaviour a person will perform, to what standard and by when, and what reward (and sometimes what sanction) follows, who delivers it, and how completion is recorded. Change is assumed to happen through operant…

Format

• No source gives a fixed session count; the phases below are assembled from the procedural lists in the sources, and the session estimates are.
• Phase A. Suitability and assessment (usually 1 session). Goal: decide whether a contract fits. Check the nature of the change wanted, the person's verbal and conceptual skills (can they follow an if-then rule and tolerate delay?), the relationship with the person who will control the reward, and…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Version followed: the applied-behaviour-analysis account of contingency contracting (task / reward / task record, after Heward and colleagues in Cooper, Heron & Heward's Applied Behavior Analysis and Dardig & Heward's family contracting books), combined with Stuart's (1971) reciprocal family contract (privileges, responsibilities, sanctions, bonuses, monitoring) and the patient-practitioner variant reviewed by Janz,…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• blame; renegotiations that only ever add demands.
• performance dropping after a step (step back down).
• lost or forged cards; teacher burden (keep items few).
• abrupt withdrawal; reinstate a lighter contract if performance falls.
• a bonus criterion so strict it is never reached; re-set it so it is achievable.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.