Treatment Philosophy
Dr. Michael Bishop’s treatment for improving school functioning is based on the principals of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (C.B.T.). C.B.T. is an empirically supported treatment that focuses on patterns of thinking that are maladaptive and the beliefs that underlie such thinking. People who seek C.B.T. can expect their therapist to be active, problem-focused, and goal-directed.
Key components of treatment:
- All clients are given a complete assessment in order to better understand the key causes of behaviors in question. For a list of assessment tools utilized, please see the “Assessment” page.
- A realistic treatment plan is developed for all clients. The treatment plan is discussed with both the client and parent(s).
- Behavioral contracts, tracking systems, and goals will be established.
- Contracts will be agreed upon by the client and parent(s), and rewards, when applicable, should be provided by the parent and should be substantive.
- Systematic Self Observation, increased Structure and Self Regulation will be utilized to change behavior. Adolescents and teens can change their behaviors by establishing commitment, creating daily goals to change their behaviors, and working each day to ensure these goals are met.
- Skills and strategy training interventions will be developed to address the organizational problems for children with learning disabilities; contingency management is often used in conjunction with organizational skills training to promote the use of organizational skills and their generalization.
- Behavior targeted for change will be measured. The simple act of measuring behavior has been proven effective in creating change. When behavior is measured, interventions can be made and progress can be tracked.
Seeing real progress is an empowering experience and is used as motivation to continue improving behavior and changing for the better.
Students performing poorly in school often need to see success in order to break out of the depressive cycle they may be stuck in. Working intensively with Dr. Bishop, students experience some level of initial academic success. The process involves the student learning exactly what behaviors are needed accomplish their goals and actually preforming those behaviors with Dr. Bishop's assistance. After several victories, the amount of effort no longer seems so tedious and study behaviors become habits.
Ultimatley the goal is for the student to "own" these behaviors and self-motivate accomplish their academic goals.
Dr. Bishop uses tracked improvements in behavior as momentum to continue the student in the right direction. He has treated thousands of clients over his career and has changed countless lives for the better.
You can read more about the treatment stages and the four targets for behavioral change here.
The following are NOT components of treatment with Dr. Bishop:
- Idle conversation about topics unrelated to the problem at hand.
- Employment of techniques that are unfounded or scientifically unsupported.
Unfortunately many training programs in psychology, especially Doctorate of Psychology (PsyD) programs, are not always 100% grounded in science. You may have found this website out of frustration with your child’s current therapist. If you feel that your child’s current therapist is not making substantial progress with your child then it may be time to consider a switch.
A new report in Psychological Science in the Public Interest calls for the reform of clinical psychology training programs and the development of a new accreditation system to ensure that psychologists are trained to use the most effective and current scientific research. There are multiple practices and techniques in the field of clinical psychology that are grounded in science and proven to work. Unfortunately, if these techniques are not taught or utilized by psychologists the client suffers. Additionally, the reputation of the entire field of psychology suffers when practitioners are allowed to treat our children with techniques that have no empirical basis.
With the absence of standardized science-based training, scientifically supported treatments go unused and clients and their families suffer. For example, cognitive-behavioral therapy has been shown to be the most effective treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, yet a recent study found that only 30% of psychologists were trained to perform cognitive-behavioral therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Disordered clients.