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Research on functional analytic psychotherapy's (FAP) proposed process of change has focused on the turn-by-turn coding of FAR In these studies, FAP-consistent therapeutic techniques result in decreased idiographically defined problem behavior in session. The decreased in-session problem behavior generalizes and reduces the problem behaviors outside of session. Although theoretically consistent and methodologically rigorous, this turn-by-turn coding approach has yet to be explicitly linked to a process of change that can be assessed via questionnaires. In the current study, three participants were treated in a multiple baseline design study that compared an interaction without personal detail exchange, reading plays, to FAP as implemented using the awareness, courage, and love model, a popular treatment dissemination strategy that identifies treatment targets as midlevel terms. Data presented explore the implementation of FAP on a turn-by-turn basis, the resulting change in treatment targets via questionnaires (in and out-of-session relating), and the treatment's impact on reported symptoms of psychopathology. Findings provide additional, yet still inconclusive, support for FAP's proposed process of change. The current results call into question the effects of treatment implementation using the awareness, courage, and love model in place of traditional implementation anchored in operant conditioning. Keywords Social intimacy * Functional analytic psychotherapy * Single-subject design * Psychotherapy process * Loneliness, Introduction Despite showing efficacy, manualized treatment protocols frequently lack the specificity needed to identify the therapy components responsible for change (Kupfer et al., 2008). This lack of specificity has led [...]

Behavioral models of depression have theorized that access to positive reinforcement is a key component to the etiology and maintenance of depression. As a result, many treatments for depression such as Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Behavioral Activation emphasize the importance of increased activity and creating an environment where rewards and reinforcement is available. Despite the theoretical underpinnings in depression and the success of these treatments incorporating the constructs, little is known about the relationship between the availability of environmental rewards and activation as it relates to depression. To address this gap in knowledge, a cross-sectional survey was administered to 409 undergraduate students at a medium-sized, Hispanic-Serving institute. Consistent with behavioral models of depression, the findings provided support for the contribution of an enriched environment as well as behavioral activation on depression. The findings indicate that the role of activation changes based on the level of environmental reward that is available. When taken together, the availability of environmental reward and activation accounted for a large amount of the variance of depression indicating support for behavioral models of depression. Keywords Behavioral activation * Depression * Environmental reward * Treatment, Depression is one of the most prevalent psychological disorders and is the leading cause of disability globally (World Health Organization, 2017). Given the frequently debilitating nature of depression and the [...]