Behavioral therapy focuses on present actions, not insight into the past. One important figure in the development of the theories of behaviorism was John Watson, who stressed that things that can be observed, such as actions, should be the focus of psychological study, not unobservable cognitive and emotional states; since all behaviors are learned, psychopathologies, with the help of a teacher (the therapist), can therefore be unlearned or altered. One of the most important features of this type of therapy is its emphasis on empirical research. The two categories within this field are based primarily on the empirical evidence provided by Pavlov regarding classical conditioning and B.F. Skinner regarding operant conditioning. Contemporary advances made in this field usually center on new evidence provided by cognitive research; and thus a combination of these two fields form the third category of behavior therapy, known as cognitive behavior therapy. Since the premise of behavior therapy is that abnormal behaviors, like normal behaviors, are learned, the goal is to focus on the present and to determine the function that the behavior is serving for the individual. Once the function of the maladaptive behavior has been identified, the next step is to come up with an alternative behavior to fulfill the same need, but which has less negative consequences.

Classical conditioning therapy focuses on counter-conditioning techniques such as systematic desensitization, in vivo desensitization, and flooding, which are most effective for anxiety disorders; and aversion, which is used most commonly with substance abuse and dependence disorders. The main goal of this type of treatment is to alter old responses by pairing new responses with the old stimuli. Operant conditioning therapy is based on the basic premise of operant conditioning theory that behaviors that are reinforced will increase and those that are punished will decrease. The two major forms of this category are contingency learning, which has been proven effective with schizophrenic individuals and juvenile delinquents, and social skills training. In contingency learning, such techniques as a token economy are used to directly reward and punish the individual for certain types of behavior. However, this form of treatment requires a highly controlled environment; the newly learned, improved behavior is not always applicable to the patient's everyday world. Another behavioral method, social skills training, basically teaches the client new behaviors such as assertiveness and problem solving that may lead to more success and rewards in the everyday world.

The premise of cognitive therapy is that irrational thoughts are the basis of psychopathology. The goals of cognitive therapy are to focus on the individual's thoughts, identify the ones that are irrational--these are usually blanket, absolute standards, or rules of operation, which the individual sets for him- or herself--and then eliminate them. Again, similar to client-centered therapy, the patient plays a huge role in his or her own recovery. The patient is usually asked to fill out worksheets that ask the patient to identify his or her feelings when stressful events occur, indicate the stressful, or triggering event, identify his/her automatic thought, and then to think of alternative reasons or responses. Integrating these principles with behavior therapy, then, leads to an approach that incorporates the role cognition also plays in learning. This treatment approach, which consists of such categories as attribution retraining, self-instruction training, and rational-emotive therapy, draws heavily on the work of Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis, and is most effective in treating such disorders as depression.