Family integrative technique for behaviour modification: An activity rescheduling program

Pages:215-224
Dwarka Pershad, Neha Jain, and Parul Gupta (Department of Psychiatry, Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Mullana, Ambala, Haryana)

There was a felt need for developing easy, affordable, accessible and transparent method of non-pharmaceutical nature for academic, personality, adjustment and emotional problems arising out of modernization and taking a gigantic shape day by day causing wastage of manpower. Hundreds of universities and institutes were producing a force of large number of councillors to meet the challenges. The methods taught to these prospective counsellors were from Western books based on dynamic model, to promote self (a western-self). A newer behaviour modification technique based on ‘we-self’ (family- self) configured with narcissistic tendency of the parents was developed to match with our cultural heritage. It included rescheduling of a number of routine activities of the client by the therapist, to be carried out by the subject while parents assuming the role of co-therapist in the process. It required history taking of activity client had been performing, availability of parental time at home and constellation of family. In this process subject is allotted certain activities to be carried by him to discipline his wondering mind and parents interacts with subject with smiling face, without showing anger or anguish in non-critical and non-argumentative mode with subject as a co-therapist. This process, promotes the acceptance of each other, perpetuating family-self thus improvement with practice was assured to come. Empirically this method of treatment had been found better than any other conventional methods with acceptance by the authoritarian figure of the family.