Treatment programmes involving a very brief period of Restitution and/or Positive Practice as derived from the overcorrection rationale, coupled with differential reinforcement of other behaviours, were successfully implemented with six severely mentally handicapped children who displayed either self-injurious or self-stimulatory behaviours. The reduction in the period of time devoted to Restitution and/or Positive Practice from the 20 min traditionally used to approximately 1 min is seen as beneficial in that it reduces demands on direct care-givers' time and stamina, while concurrently allowing an increase in the number of times the child associates the undesirable behaviour with its aversive consequences. The importance of positive reinforcement, the care necessary when using punishment procedures, however brief, in an institutional setting and the attitudes of direct care-givers are discussed.