The present paper describes a method combining thought stopping and covert assertion and reports its application in six case histories the majority of which would usually be classified as phobic rather than obsessional. The paper reports successful followups. (Author/LA)

Research on learning and conditioning suggests that verbal response modification does not occur in the absence of the subject's ability to define verbally (1) the response-reinforcement relationships and (2) his intention to change his behavior in the direction of reinforcement. This seems to be true for operant conditioning of verbal behavior,…