If psychology has taught us one thing, it’s that our growth and ability to learn and cope comes from within. The truth of the matter is that personal growth is in your hands, the power to change thoughts, feelings and behaviors comes from within.

While most people think it’s harder said than done, through conditioning techniques like classical conditioning and operant conditioning, tweaking certain associations with stimuli can promote learning and instill change. It becomes easier to promote personal growth by swapping negative patterns for positive patterns through conditioning techniques.

Here’s a look at two main conditioning techniques in psychology that are used to promote personal growth.

Classical conditioning

This conditioning technique simply pairs two stimuli together to ultimately elicit a desired response. When you pair two unassociated ideas or things together with the help of a neutral stimulus, it ultimately leads to the association of the two desired objects or feelings.

Personal growth through classical conditioning

The basic technique of associating a positive feeling or thought with an unassociated feeling, thought, or object can help promote personal growth by overcoming phobias, developing healthy habits, enhancing self-esteem, and much more.

For instance, to theoretically get over a phobia, you can associate a fear with a pleasurable stimulus, like your favorite song or a soothing image. With time and constant pairing, you'll come to associate the fear with pleasant emotions or a calming image, which will essentially and eventually lessen the phobia.

How to practice classical conditioning?

Here’s how to use this conditioning technique to promote personal growth:

1. Determine the goal
2. Find the desired response you want to cultivate
3. Find a neutral or unassociated stimulus to replace the fear/feeling
4. Repeatedly pair the neutral stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus until you get the response you desire
5. Test the effectiveness of the conditioning technique

Operant conditioning

This conditioning technique, while not as pleasant at times, can still be very effective. Based on the consequences, operant conditioning reinforces or punishes a behavior in order to either increase or reduce it. This conditioning technique involves positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment.

Promote personal growth through operant conditioning

Most psychologists prefer using reinforcement over punishment; however, they are both effective and result in desired outcomes. In order to promote personal growth, operant conditioning can help with overcoming bad habits, improving health, reaching desired goals, and more.

For example, to reach one's goals, giving yourself a treat every time you learn or improve a skill can lead to a positive response to a certain behavior, motivating you to continue doing the same until that skill is fully learned and mastered.

How to practice operant conditioning?

Here’s how to use this conditioning technique to promote personal growth:

1. State your desired outcome
2. Find the target behavior that ultimately leads to the desired outcome
3. Understand what triggers the target behavior
4. Figure out the consequences that need to follow
5. Choose your strategy, whether that is reinforcements or punishments
6. Implement the strategy and monitor the effects

Conclusion

While both of the above conditioning techniques help promote personal growth, they are by no means foolproof plans. Oftentimes, these conditioning techniques, if not done right, can lead to unwanted associations, dependency, and sometimes even manipulation. It is therefore important to use these conditioning techniques ethically and in an effective way to promote personal growth.

Although the two conditioning techniques differ slightly, they can promote personal growth by fundamentally driving you towards living a better life and giving you the power to change your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.