Functional analysis (ABC)

Identify what a behaviour is actually doing for the person, by mapping antecedents, the behaviour itself, and its consequences.

Whenever behaviour is the target — avoidance, self-harm, compulsions, substance use, anger, procrastination.14 fieldsBehavior Therapies Exposure Therapies Dialectical Behavior Therapy Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

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The behavioural question is never "why is this person like this?" but "what maintains this behaviour, here, now?" Topography — what the behaviour looks like — matters far less than function. Two people who both cut may be doing entirely different things: one escaping unbearable affect, one communicating distress that cannot be spoken, one punishing themselves. The interventions differ accordingly.

Function	What the behaviour achieves	Typical intervention direction
Escape / avoidance	Removes or postpones an aversive state	Exposure; reduce avoidance; build distress tolerance
Access to tangible	Produces something wanted	Alternative means; contingency change
Social / attention	Produces response from others	Skills for direct asking; change others’ responses
Automatic / sensory	Produces an internal state directly	Substitution; competing response

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Define the behaviour

Target behaviour, described so a stranger could count it*

Not "gets anxious". "Leaves the room within two minutes of the meeting starting."

Frequency, duration, intensityHow baseline will be measured

A–B–C chain

Setting events / vulnerability factors

Sleep, illness, hunger, conflict earlier that day, substance use — things that raise the odds without triggering directly.

Immediate antecedent — what happened right before*Internal antecedents — thoughts, images, sensations, urgesThe behaviour, moment by momentShort-term consequences (seconds to minutes)*

This is where the reinforcement lives. Ask what changed immediately — relief is the usual answer.

Long-term consequences (hours to months)How other people responded

Hypothesised function

Function(s)*

Function statement: "When ___, the patient ___, which results in ___, making it more likely."*Candidate replacement behaviours that serve the same function

Removing a behaviour without replacing its function tends to fail, or to produce a substitute you like even less.

Planned changes to antecedents and consequences

5 required fields outstanding: Target behaviour, described so a stranger could count it; Immediate antecedent — what happened right before; Short-term consequences (seconds to minutes) …

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What Praxical.Psych is, and is not