Covert Conditioning for Persistent Aggressive Behaviors: A Case Illustration

In psychotherapy practice and training, single case study design plays an indispensable role by effectively articulating the application of textbook knowledge, thereby bridging the gap between theory and practice. This article, on similar lines, illustrates one such successful example of the application of the classical behavioral technique of covert conditioning modified with a component of verbal challenging. A woman in her late-thirties reported with long-standing seemingly-resistant-to-treat symptoms of aggressive behavior of beating children. The client had a total of 10 daily sessions of 60-90 minutes each. By the end of one week, she reported not beating children in this period. She felt extremely relieved because it had happened for the first time in 10 years. The intensity of anger had decreased drastically, and she was not shouting any longer. She had to discontinue sessions abruptly due to unavoidable circumstances. Although she was suggested to follow up the intensive sessions again, she was not able to do it due to feasibility issues. The improvement was maintained on follow-up visits after two weeks, four weeks, and three months.