In contrast, “behavioral” reasoning assumes that patients are ill because of what they are doing (McHugh and Slavney, 1998); thus, behavioral reasoning is strongly tied to individual choices, their antecedents, and their consequences. Some behavioral disorders, e.g., alcohol and drug use disorders, are usually construed as out-of-control motivated behaviors. Other behavioral disorders, like anorexia nervosa, are usually construed as being shaped by culture and social learning (McHugh and Slavney, 1998). Clinicians typically treat behavioral disorders by attempting to persuade patients to choose to alter their behaviors (with help in disrupting the physiologic drives and other factors that provoke and sustain the behaviors). Thus, behavioral reasoning, in particular, invokes learning principles.
