Which technique involves assigning tasks between sessions to change routines and interrupt cycles?

Which technique involves assigning tasks between sessions to change routines and interrupt cycles?

• A. Systemic Desensitization
• B. Extinction burst
• C. Reciprocal Inhibition
• D. Behavioral tasks

Answer: (D)

Assigning tasks between sessions, or homework, is a behavioral strategy that extends therapy into daily life to change routines and interrupt loops of the old behavior. The idea is to have clients practice new skills, expose themselves to real-world situations, and apply coping strategies outside the therapist’s office. This deliberate practice creates new contingencies and reinforces alternative responses, helping to weaken automatic patterns that maintain the problem and promote lasting change. While systemic desensitization involves gradual exposure and relaxation during sessions, extinction bursts describe a temporary spike in a behavior after reinforcement stops, and reciprocal inhibition uses a competing response to reduce anxiety—none of these specifically centers on between-session tasks to rework everyday routines. Behavioral tasks best capture the emphasis on homework-like assignments to practice and solidify new behaviors.

Assigning tasks between sessions, or homework, is a behavioral strategy that extends therapy into daily life to change routines and interrupt loops of the old behavior. The idea is to have clients practice new skills, expose themselves to real-world situations, and apply coping strategies outside the therapist’s office. This deliberate practice creates new contingencies and reinforces alternative responses, helping to weaken automatic patterns that maintain the problem and promote lasting change. While systemic desensitization involves gradual exposure and relaxation during sessions, extinction bursts describe a temporary spike in a behavior after reinforcement stops, and reciprocal inhibition uses a competing response to reduce anxiety—none of these specifically centers on between-session tasks to rework everyday routines. Behavioral tasks best capture the emphasis on homework-like assignments to practice and solidify new behaviors.