Traditionally, behavioural psychotherapists have underplayed the significance of purely verbal means of effecting behaviour change. Verbal therapies have always been regarded with some suspicion and considerable doubts cast about their efficacy (Eysenck 1952; 1960). Even when writers have acknowledged that some change occurs from verbal interventions, their effects are generally seen as weak when compared to more active therapies (e.g. Bandura 1977). In reviews of evaluative research claims are made for the superiority of the behavioural approaches (Rachman 1971) and, even where no such claims are made, there is still the tendency to draw a distinction between behaviour therapy on the one hand, and the verbal or insight therapies on the other (e.g. Smith & Glass, 1977). It is my contention that this distinction is an artificial one; it ignores the fact that behavioural psychotherapists draw heavily on words in their treatments, and, indeed, that many verbal psychotherapists are often very active or behavioural in their work. In this paper I want to illustrate the power of words within behavioural psychotherapy by referring to what therapists actually do in practice. To make this explicit I shall describe a particular case in order to illustrate the way one behaviour therapist uses words for effect. More generally, I shall argue that verbal methods are already a highly significant feature of behavioural psychotherapy, that words, far from being weak in their effects, can be both powerful and efficient and that it is quite appropriate to use verbal methods of analysis and treatment without undermining the basic principles of a behavioural orientation.

On December 19th last year, the BABP sponsored a well-attended symposium on Social Skills Training. The size of the audience attests to the interest in this area, but the level of discussion was less sophisticated than they had the right to expect. The publicity posters posed two questions: “Who, if anyone, really benefits? How, if at all, should it be done?”. This implied that a critical look would be taken at the voluminous literature and that healthy scepticism was the keynote of the evening.

Chelfham Mill School, Barnstaple, Devon, is a residential school designed on behavioural principles. (Burland, 1976). It is an independent residential school for 46 maladjusted boys aged 7–12 years with I.Q. range 70–95. The boys are referred through child guidance clinics and maintained by local education authorities. The staff consists of an educational psychologist, headteacher, deputy headteacher, social worker, 5 assistant teachers and 9 residential therapists. They have all been trained to use behaviour modification techniques and many of the staff have built up considerable practical expertise since the school was established in 1966.

Several experiments were reported in order to show that there are good reasons for suspecting disturbed interhemispheric relationships in some schizophrenics. It was argued that interhemispheric transfer deficits might underlie some of the classical symptoms of schizophrenia and might be related to auditory hallucinations, in particular. The latter suggestion was supported by experimental and clinical observations. Finally, the possibility of introducing neuropsychological methods into behavioural treatment was discussed.

A guide to a highly selected list of books written by “experts” for the layman. The selection reflects the authors' own bias for experts whose approach relied primarily on sound scientific bases such as large scale and representative surveys, systematic or controlled observations.