Nonlinear Contingency Analysis: Going Beyond Cognition and Behavior in Clinical Practice

Nonlinear Contingency Analysis is a guide to treating clinically complex behavior problems such as delusions and hallucinations. It’s also a framework for treating behavior problems, one that explores solutions based on the creation of new or alternative consequential contingencies rather than the elimination or deceleration of old or problematic thoughts, feelings, or behaviors. Chapters present strategies, analytical tools, and interventions that clinicians can use in session to think about clients’ problems using decision theory, experimental analysis of behavior, and clinical research and practice. By treating thoughts and emotions not as causes of behavior but as indicators of the environmental conditions that are responsible for them, patients can use that knowledge to make changes that not only result in changes in behavior, but in the thoughts and feelings themselves.

Table of Contents:
1. Our Purpose 2. Fundamentals of Consequential Contingency Analysis 3. What is a Consequential Contingency? 4. What Does It Mean to be Constructional? 5.NCA as a Constructional Approach 6.Within the NCA Session 7.NCA and Patterns Arising from Organic or Medical Issues 8.Distinguishing Between NCA and Other Approaches 9. Measuring NCA Outcomes: Avoiding Response Bias 10. Topical and Systemic NCA Interventions: A Case Study Appendix A . A Users Guide to Goldiamond’s Constructional Questionnaire Appendix B. Modified Goldiamond Case Presentation Guide Appendix C. The Smith Case Appendix D. The Behavioral Contingency Analysis Paradigm: A Brief Tutorial Appendix E. Comparison of Topical Direct, Topical Functional, Topical Nonlinear, and Systemic Nonlinear Interventions

About the Author :
T. V. Joe Layng, PhD, partner at Generategy, LLC. Paul Thomas Andronis, PhD, Professor Emeritus of psychological sciences at Northern Michigan University. R. Trent Codd III, EdS, executive director at the Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Center of Western North Carolina. Awab Abdel-Jalil, MS, constructional coach at Eastern Florida Autism Center/Great Leaps Academy and graduate student in clinical behavioral psychology.

Review :
"This book is a gift to clinicians who wish to approach complex patients with curiosity and confidence. The authors combine a rigorous description of theoretical principles with a compassionate and holistic program for evaluation and management of symptoms that impede progress. If you believe that all behavior makes sense but still struggle to help people change, this book belongs in your toolbox." Donna M. Sudak, MD, AADPRT, professor of psychiatry and vice chair for education at Drexel University, USA "I found this book refreshing and perspective changing. It has had a profound effect on my therapy with clients and has helped me to work in a more nuanced, precise, and systemic way. The authors have condensed complex and challenging ideas into an accessible manual that includes clear explanations and clinically rich and creative interventions. The focus on existing repertoires and client strengths is empowering; their uncovering of purpose and meaning in the most disturbing of behaviors is transformational." David Port, MA, psychologist in Jerusalem, Israel "Preparation of doctoral-level behavior analysts requires training that goes beyond the basics in order to produce advanced clinicians and researchers who are skilled in understanding and intervening on complex behavior. This book will be instrumental in bringing the concept of nonlinear contingency analysis to students in a way that is both accessible and engaging. I am looking forward to including this book in our coursework as a key foundational text." Annette Griffith, PhD, BCBA-D, associate department chair and research coordinator, Applied Behavior Analysis Department, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, USA "This book is a revelation; it has fundamentally changed the way I structure and carry out parent training. The authors lay out a comprehensive approach using clear language that speaks directly to parent concerns with empathy and optimism. The book guides clinicians through a series of concrete steps and establishes measurable outcomes while empowering parents to work with them in full partnership for the children they love." Jonathan Amey, MEd, educational consultant