Week 9: Stimulus Control

I really enjoyed this week's reading on Stimulus Control. The article made it seem like SC is incredibly easy for any therapist to implement (even though the client may exhibit noncompliance). It does not seem to require much (if any) psychological training to get someone to start using it. I mean, the article mentioned that nurses and general practitioners have been successful teaching it to their patients.

I want to learn how to administer SC. Not because it seems easy and because it doesn't seem to require psychological training...but because it seems to really work. I would love to be a therapist with a high success rate. I want to help people, and if this is a way to make people more satisfied with their lives, I want to use it. I think it would be great to treat only insomniacs and only use SC and just sit back and smile as all my clients start getting long, healthy, happy, full nights of sleep.

Ok--pause. I think I have found a problem with the SC article. Never before have I read about a therapy and thought, "WOW, this seems perfect!". I think this proves that the article we read was biased and did not include any research that sheds a negative light on it. Even negative aspects of using SC (such as the high noncompliance rate) was sugar coated by emphasizing the strategies that can be used to counteract it. I am 99% positive that there has to be negative aspects of SC and I think I would have a more in depth, fuller understanding of SC if the article included more information about these negative aspects. No treatment is perfect...right? Or is SC the PERFECT treatment for insomniacs?

I have a weird question about SC. To follow the steps correctly, nothing can be done in the bed except sleep & sex. Why is sex allowed? I mean, I know sex typically occurs in the bedroom and it would probably be taboo to make therapists suggest doing it outside of the bedroom, but doesn't sex create high levels of arousal? Wouldn't SC be more effective if sex was relegated to another room (perhaps a spare bedroom?) as well? Have there been any studies done that show sex in the bedroom does not hinder the effects of SC?

Ok, now that I brought up that awkward topic, I think I'll stop before I embarrass myself anymore. See you all in class on Wednesday!