Historical evolution of the anxiety reduction techniques: From behaviorsm to cognitivism

After considering the emergence and development conditions of the behavior therapy, the authors center their analysis in what supposed the introduction of the cognitive positions concerning the theoretical and methodological unification possibility of the psychology. Front to the ideal of the unity of the psychology, that is questionned, is verified, by the contrary, the theoretical fragmentation and the consequent methodological and technical diversity. These aspects are carried to the concrete field of the techniques of anxiety reduction.