Behavior therapy in South Africa: A review

Abstract

Behavior therapy in South Africa has, after strong beginnings, undergone a slump which seems largely due to the drain of leading behavior therapists from this country. During the last decade there has been evidence of a revival of this approach, due largely to the increasing place of behavior therapy in clinical training curricula. Questionnaire and interview data from universities and hospitals indicated that therapy training was “eclectic” in the sense that interns and registrars were expected to master the basics of several approaches; and this was reflected in clinical practice in that most therapists used behavior therapy in conjunction with other approaches. It was noted that relatively little research in behavior therapy was published by South Africans, but that this appeared to be increasing in the last few years. Cross-cultural issues were assuming increasing importance as psychotherapeutic services were increasingly extended to the indigenous African population of this country, and it was suggested that behavior therapy was an effective approach in this context when due consideration was given to the cultural beliefs and patterns of the particular patient.