Role of Emotion in Cognitive-Behavior Therapy

The behavioral tradition has clearly evolved over the past four decades, moving from its focus on specific actions to an increasing attention to cognitive and affective aspects of human functioning. In the 1960s, behavior therapy was criticized for its exclusive focus on overt behaviors and its reliance on classical and operant learning models that, while important and useful, had limited clinical value. This criticism had led to increased openness to cognitive procedures within the field: In the 1970s, behavior researchers and therapists began to take notice of the accumulated knowledge and developments in basic cognitive science, and most began referring to their orienta-