Psychotherapy

what mental health treatment was introduced in the 1930s?

biological therapies (insulin-coma therapy, electroshock therapy, frontal lobotomy)

what mental health treatment was introduced in the 1950s?

antipsychotic drugs

what was controversial about insulin-coma therapy?

had horrendous side effects like change in behaviour

when was psychoanalysis introduced?

1880s

who introduced psychoanalysis?

Freud

who kept the development of psychoanalysis alive?

Freudians, Kleimians, ect

what approaches were introduced in the 1950s?

• behavioural (Wolpe, Watson, Skinner)

• rational emotive therapy (RET, Ellis)

• humanistic (Rogers)

what therapy was introduced in the 1960s?

cognitive therapy by Beck

Freud and talking therapies (1890-1950)

worked as a physician, treated patients with hysterical symptoms

what did Freud propose about hysteric symptoms?

1. they were caused by repressed traumatic events in the unconscious

2. the nature of the symptom was related to the event

3. the symptom could be relieved by insight into the relationship between the event and symptom

who proposed the 6 phases of development?

Docherty and Colbert (2024)

phase 1

• Freud (1890-1950)

• shift from unsystematic (diverse approaches, symptom based) to theory-driven treatment (psychopathology)

phase 2

• field became connected to empirical psych (clinical observations)

• Freud + followers: “what is the meaning of psychological distress?“

phase 3 + 4

• evidence based psychotherapy + standardisation

• gathering empirical evidence on whether/how psychotherapy works

• problem: no solid evidence that it worked (Eysenck, 1952), trials couldn’t specify what was done, so therapies couldn’t be compared

• advance: randomised control trials + meta-analysis became standard

phase 5

• digital psychotherapy (2005-2015)

• developed to combat demand-supply mismatch (even good therapy depended on unobserved individual therapists, leading to therapist drift)

• allows greater consistency of delivery, easier to test for effectiveness (e.g. fear fighter, Beating the Blues)

phase 6

• prescriptions digital therapeutics (2015-present)

• availability DOES NOT equal efficiency (minority of apps meet specified quality thresholds)

• approx. 10k-20k mental health apps exist, covering functions like mindfulness, meditation or mood tracking

• concerns about: inadequate evidence, variable quality, safety privacy, lack of regulations