At the time of this recording, Dr. Donald Meichenbaum was a Professor of Psychology at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Meichenbaum is one of the founders of Cognitive-Behavior Modification, and his book, Cognitive-Behavior Modification: An Integrative Approach, is considered a classic in the field.

His system is an attempt to integrate the clinical concerns of Psychodynamic and Cognitive-Semantic therapists with the technology of Behavior therapy. Meichenbaum says that behavior, from a Cognitive-Behavior perspective, is a reflection of several processes: the kinds of thoughts, beliefs, internal dialogues, images, feelings, and the ways we appraise the environment.

The job of the therapist includes helping the patient become aware of: (a) each of these processes, (b) the kinds of behavioral patterns the patient emits over and over in differing situations, (c) the reactions the patient elicits from others.

The therapist, according to Dr. Meichenbaum, is to help the patient to view these reactions as evidence and to nurture the courage in the patient to “try something different,” to perform personal experiments in order to unfreeze beliefs, to discover options, and to change. Dr. Meichenbaum touches on many of these processes and roles with Richard in a very effective and moving interview. 

DVD / Region-1, NTSC (720×480)
46 minutes