ABSTRACT
The analysis of relationships between behavior therapy and meditation is best preceded by a clarification of the understanding of these two terms. Behavior therapy is neither a school or theory of psychotherapy nor a set of therapeutic techniques. It is a set of metatheoretical assumptions leading to an approach to the understanding and modification of behavior in social learning theory terms from which a variety of therapeutic models and specific techniques can be generated. Meditation, as we will use the term, refers to a body of techniques, and the research data and theories which explain them, derived from the practices of various Eastern "ways of liberation." The potential for cross-fertilization between behavior therapy research and meditation research is great. A respect for scientific method and a predilection for rigorous experiment have characterized behavior therapy since its inception.
