The Role of Cognitive Behavioral Interventions in Reducing Recidivism

Jon Barberio, MA, LPCA — Edited by Richard Van Acker, EdD — 5 minute read
I hate wisteria. I worked as a landscaper on and off for close to 8 years, and while 110° days, dust storms of pollen, mountains of fall leaves, and crabgrass made the days long, few things annoyed me as much as that creeping, indestructible abomination. Sure, it’s pretty and smells nice- for one week out of the year; the rest of the year it takes over gardens, trees, house, yards, and my sanity.
 You see, the problem with wisteria is that it has a very hearty root system that seems to store an unlimited amount of energy. As Mr. Rogers is my witness, I have mowed over the same plant 40+ times just to see it pop up again. I even set it on fire once. That wasn’t supposed to help kill the plant; that was for me. No amount of herbicide, cutting, or indeed fire was going to kill this plant if the root system coming underground from the neighboring yard was not dealt with. I asked the neighbor if I could uproot it, and since they wanted it gone, we took it out, and after cutting it back once more, it never returned.

Behavioral interventions are amazing. They work wonders re-mapping neuropathways of the reptilian brain, associating good behavior with dopamine and unwanted behaviors with cortisol and stress. For some students, this is enough to guide them to healthy behaviors, but what about the ones who don’t seem to get it? Why do some behavioral interventions seem to work for some students, but others seem to keep returning to problematic behavior? Why are they doing this? Chances are, we aren’t getting to the root of the problem. We aren’t getting to the automatic thoughts and beliefs causing the behaviors.
Chances are, we aren’t getting to the root of the problem. We aren’t getting to the automatic thoughts and beliefs causing the behaviors.
Jon Barberio, MA, LPCA
Enter Cognitive Behavioral Theory. This theory suggests that while we can use reinforcement and punishment to modify behavior, a deeper issue is ignored. Its founders suggested that action(A) and consequences(C) are not direct correlations. A does not equal C.

In between A and C is B, the belief about what happened. For example, I had a client this morning who was angry that his boss sent him a video of dirty trim he forgot to clean. He felt that was a passive way to tell him he missed something, and that’s not the way to lead. Now this client came to me angry (the C) because of the video (A), but was ignoring his thoughts and beliefs (B). After helping him see his beliefs, “No one should talk to me like that” and “I’m a failure at work” lead to the anger, he left my office disappointed his boss talked to him like that but not too bothered about a simple mistake that was no determining factor of his self-worth. This is the basis of Cognitive Based Interventions, finding the beliefs about self, others, and the world that determine behavior. Epictetus summed it up well when he said: “Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things.”

 So, how does this approach apply to preventing recidivism in students? Students who regularly get in fights often have a faulty “road map” of beliefs that include thoughts such as: “If I don’t fight back, I’m a wimp,” or “If I let people talk to me like that, I am weak.” A week of suspension (in the environment that built that behavior) isn’t as bad as being a wimp. If we don’t change the “road map” that the student is using to navigate life, they will not reach the destination we desire for them.
If we don’t change the “road map” that the student is using to navigate life, they will not reach the destination we desire for them.
Jon Barberio, MA, LPCA
A practical way to implement this with students is to ask them, “What were you telling yourself about that?”

Instructor: Why did you get in a fight with Trish?
Student: Trish called me “X”.
Instructor: Sorry to hear that. What were you telling yourself about that?
Student: She shouldn’t do that.
Instructor: So you need everyone to treat you how you want, or else they control your actions?
I feel slightly guilty using that example as it is never that simple. Hopefully, it highlights how you can help students think about their thoughts without extensive training in CBI and compare their roadmaps with reality. In that example, the student equated A with C without examining her demand on the world and others that they MUST not be mean to her. By inviting the student to engage the belief, we can start to teach them to challenge their ways of thinking and see if it leads to their desired long-term outcomes.

Now that last part is important. We need a destination to aim for, just as with behavioral interventions, and we need clearly defined expectations and goals. Let’s revisit the student from the example above, we’ll call her Nancy. If Nancy wants to be someone who is not easily controlled by others, she’ll need to confront her beliefs about how she feels others must treat her. If she has a rigid demand on the world, well, she is not going to find true peace, as the world does not, in fact, behave kindly all the time.

Simple in theory, right? Practically speaking, it’s more nuanced. When was the last time you considered your own deeply rooted internal thoughts and beliefs about the world? This is both a daunting yet empowering reality because it allows students to alter their actions by taking ownership of their faulty beliefs, something most people never bother to consider. But when we do, we are able to get to the root of the issue rather than cutting the same wisteria over and over.

One byproduct of CBI is when you learn to notice your thoughts and beliefs in one area, it becomes difficult to ignore them in another. I had one student that I was working on depression with, who started skipping too many days again. Once she was doing better, we had a check-in the month later, and she surprised me by telling me she broke up with her boyfriend. She told me she had noticed him placing too many demands on her for his own emotional stability. I was sad for her, but in summary, she said: “Once I figured out how much power I was giving others over my own emotional well-being, I got more annoyed with him for giving me too much power over his.”

We are thinking and feeling bodies. Our thinking dictates our feelings, and our feelings dictate our actions. Going to the source of the thinking can change the actions for the short and long term. If a student does not alter deep-rooted beliefs, they are likely to repeat that thought/belief being acted out in an unhealthy manner.
Going to the source of the thinking can change the actions for the short and long term. If a student does not alter deep-rooted beliefs, they are likely to repeat that thought/belief being acted out in an unhealthy manner.
Jon Barberio, MA, LPCA
To wrap up, let’s go bowling. The bumpers are behavioral interventions; they keep students focused when they veer off course. Cognitive behavioral theory works to guide the toss, it points the ball in the right direction to meet the ultimate goal of hitting a strike… or getting rid of wisteria- whatever the desired outcome may be.
written by

Jonathon Barberio

Jon Barberio works with clients to explore their stories and the narratives others have written for them that they no longer wish to own while helping change unhealthy and untrue thoughts and beliefs that lead to negative experiences. He loves teaching families to be curious about the systems they are a part of and how they each affect each other because no one person is “the problem.” Outside of his professional work, he loves reading fiction, playing any competitive sport, playing board games, having thought-provoking conversations by a fire, and would own way too many project cars if he could. Jonathon is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate with his Bachelors in Psychology and Theology, Masters in Clinical Counseling, and has certifications in rational emotive behavioral therapy, cognitive process therapy, and trauma-focused behavioral therapy.

EDITED BY DR. RICHARD VAN ACKER

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