My history

 In 1965, while working as a clinical psychology assistant at the then Anna State Hospital, Dick Laws, who was a clinical psychologist, let me browse through a brand new book of readings by Ullmann and Krasner called Case Studies in Behavior Modification. He told me that Nathan Azrin was using the first core course of a brand new master's program in Behavior Therapy offered by the Rehabilitation Institute at SIU. Dick told me that both he and his then-wife, Carol Painter, who also worked at Anna, were taking it and pursuing the new master's program. Both had master's degrees in rehabilitation counseling.

The course started the following month. Dick encouraged me to take it. After I informed him I was not a graduate student, he told me I could petition the Graduate School Dean to approve taking it for undergraduate credit. It worked. The course was called Research Methods in Psychology. The other textbooks included Murray Sidman’s Tactics, Ullmann and Krasner’s Case Studies in Behavior Modification, and a book of readings on social psychology research.

This initial course was required for students in the behavior therapy program and those working on a master's in rehabilitation counseling. There were about 25 in the class: six new students in the new behavior therapy program, me, an undergraduate majoring in psychology, and the rest, Rogerian counseling students. The class met for three hours one night a week in Carbondale, where Azrin lived.

About halfway through this course, Jay Powell approached me after class and said, "John, you kind of like this shit, don't you?” Jay explained that Azrin had agreed to meet with him in his office during the winter term every week for two hours of individualized readings in aversive control, and I should ask if I could join since I worked at Anna every day and only had to walk to Azrin’s office every Tuesday afternoon. Azrin smiled and said yes. The rest is history.

Despite warnings from my psychology department advisor, I finished my degree with five courses in behavior analysis, including the three core courses for this new program and two reading courses with Nathan Azrin. When the other behavior analysis graduate students heard about the fun, Jay. I were having, they asked Azrin if they could join Jay and me in a reading class in the spring In 1965, while working as a clinical psychology assistant at the then Anna State Hospital, Dick Laws, who was a clinical psychologist, let me browse through a brand new book of readings by Ullmann and Krasner called Case Studies in Behavior Modification. He told me that Nathan Azrin was using the first core course of a brand new master's program in Behavior Therapy offered by the Rehabilitation Institute at SIU. Dick told me that both he and his then-wife, Carol Painter, who also worked at Anna, were taking it and pursuing the new master's program. Both had master's degrees in rehabilitation counseling.

The course started the following month. Dick encouraged me to take it. After I informed him I was not a graduate student, he told me I could petition the Graduate School Dean to approve taking it for undergraduate credit. It worked. The course was called Research Methods in Psychology. The other textbooks included Murray Sidman’s Tactics, Ullmann and Krasner’s Case Studies in Behavior Modification, and a book of readings on social psychology research.

This initial course was required for students in the behavior therapy program and those working on a master's in rehabilitation counseling. There were about 25 in the class: six new students in the new behavior therapy program, me, an undergraduate majoring in psychology, and the rest, Rogerian counseling students. The class met for three hours one night a week in Carbondale, where Azrin lived.

About halfway through this course, Jay Powell approached me after class and said, "John, you kind of like this shit, don't you?” Jay explained that Azrin had agreed to meet with him in his office during the winter term every week for two hours of individualized readings in aversive control, and I should ask if I could join since I worked at Anna every day and only had to walk to Azrin’s office every Tuesday afternoon. Azrin smiled and said yes. The rest is history.

Despite warnings from my psychology advisor, I finished my degree with five courses in behavior analysis, including the three core courses for this new program and two reading courses with Nathan Azrin. When the other behavior analysis graduate students heard about the fun Jay and I were having, they asked Azrin if they could join Jay and me in a reading class in the spring term.

Of course, he agreed, and we were scheduled to meet with him in an old Rehabilitation Institute house every Saturday morning for three hours. Our assignment was to take each case study in the Ullmann and Krasner book, improve its methods according to Sidman’s book, and justify our proposed changes. Interestingly, one of the counseling students was blind, and one morning, someone pointed out was wearing one brown and one black shoe. He was so embarrassed that he left immediately and returned soon with matching shoes. If that had happened to David Riess, he would have merely grinned and said he had another pair like them at home, but that's another story.

In 1965, while working as a clinical psychology assistant at the then Anna State Hospital, Dick Laws, who was a clinical psychologist, let me browse through a brand new book of readings by Ullmann and Krasner called Case Studies in Behavior Modification. He told me that Nathan Azrin was using the first core course of a brand new master's program in Behavior Therapy offered by the Rehabilitation Institute at SIU. Dick told me that both he and his then-wife, Carol Painter, who also worked at Anna, were taking it and pursuing the new master's program. Both had master's degrees in rehabilitation counseling.

The course started the following month. Dick encouraged me to take it. After I informed him I was not a graduate student, he told me I could petition the Graduate School Dean to approve taking it for undergraduate credit. It worked. The course was called Research Methods in Psychology. The other textbooks included Murray Sidman’s Tactics, Ullmann and Krasner’s Case Studies in Behavior Modification, and a book of readings on social psychology research.

This initial course was required for students in the behavior therapy program and those working on a master's in rehabilitation counseling. There were about 25 in the class: six new students in the new behavior therapy program, me, an undergraduate majoring in psychology, and the rest, Rogerian counseling students. The class met for three hours one night a week in Carbondale, where Azrin lived.

About halfway through this course, Jay Powell approached me after class and said, "John, you kind of like this shit, don't you?” Jay explained that Azrin had agreed to meet with him in his office during the winter term every week for two hours of individualized readings in aversive control, and I should ask if I could join since I worked at Anna every day and only had to walk to Azrin’s office every Tuesday afternoon. Azrin smiled and said yes. The rest is history.

Despite warnings from my psychology department advisor, I finished my degree with five courses in behavior analysis, including the three core courses for this new program and two reading courses with Nathan Azrin. When the other behavior analysis graduate students heard about the fun Jay and I were having, they asked Azrin if they could join Jay and me in a reading class in the spring term.

Of course, he agreed, and we were scheduled to meet with him in an old Rehabilitation Institute house every Saturday morning for three hours. Our assignment was to take each case study in the Ullmann and Krasner book, improve its methods according to Sidman’s book, and justify our proposed changes. Interestingly, one of the counseling students was blind, and one morning, someone pointed out was wearing one brown and one black shoe. He was so embarrassed that he left immediately and returned soon with matching shoes. If that had happened to David Riess, he would have merely grinned and said he had another pair like them at home, but that's another story. 

Of course, he agreed, and scheduled us to meet with him in an old Rehabilitation Institute house every Saturday morning for three hours. Our assignment was to take each case study in the Ullmann and Krasner book, improve its methods according to Sidman’s book, and justify our proposed changes. Interestingly, one of the counseling students was blind, and one morning, someone pointed out was wearing one brown and one black shoe. He was so embarrassed that he left immediately and returned soon with matching shoes. If that had happened to David Riess, he would have merely grinned and said he had another pair like them at home, but that's another story.