Functional analytic psychotherapy

Domain II · Behavioural & cognitive · Kohlenberg, Tsai · 1991

What it is

Functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP) is a behaviour-analytic therapy grounded in radical behaviourism. It uses the therapist–client relationship as the main vehicle of change. It rests on one idea: the client's daily-life interpersonal problems show up, in functionally equivalent form, inside…

Format

• FAP has no fixed manualised phase sequence or session count. Its authors describe it as a set of principles (the five rules) applied in every session, plus a recognisable arc: starting therapy, in-vivo work, and termination. Distinctive Features (Tsai et al., 2012) has practical chapters on…
• Format and dose

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• 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

• The original item wording was not reproduced here. Write your own prompts.
• Formulaic over-use. brief, specific, honest answers that you can respond to.
• It becoming a ritual without content. you notice and act on more CRBs in the session.
• Persisting with A-B-C when it doesn't fit the client, which Kohlenberg et al. note can damage the alliance.
• Intellectualised interpretation replacing experience. the client starts spotting the function spontaneously.

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.