Functional analytic psychotherapy (FAP) is a psychotherapeutic approach based on clinical behavior analysis (CBA) that focuses on the therapeutic relationship as a means to maximize client change.
Specifically, FAP suggests that in-session contingent responding to client target behaviors leads to significant therapeutic improvements.
FAP was first conceptualized in the 1980s by psychologists Robert Kohlenberg and Mavis Tsai who, after noticing a clinically significant association between client outcomes and the quality of the therapeutic relationship, set out to develop a theoretical and psychodynamic model of behavioral psychotherapy based on these concepts.
[4] FAP has the potential to target awareness, courage, and love behaviors as they occur in session as described by the five rules above.
[7][8] Additionally, researchers have conducted a number of case studies,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] component process analyses,[13][18][19][20] a study with non-randomized design on FAP-enhanced cognitive therapy for depression,[21] and a randomized controlled trial on FAP-enhanced acceptance and commitment therapy for smoking cessation.