History and Approaches to Psychological Treatment

A comprehensive set of flashcards covering historical treatment approaches, types of therapy, medication, and modern practices in psychology.

Pre-scientific assessment

Early understanding of mental illness often attributed to supernatural forces or unscientific physiological explanations.

Philippe Pinel

An 18th-century reformer who advocated for more humane treatment of the mentally ill.

Dorothea Dix

A 19th-century advocate for the establishment of state-run mental hospitals in response to inhumane treatment.

Deinstitutionalization

The movement of reducing the number of individuals held in mental institutions, emphasizing independence.

Rosenhan experiment

A study that questioned the validity of psychiatric diagnoses.

Psychotherapy

Treatment of psychological disorders through non-medical means.

Psychodynamic therapy

Focus on unconscious forces and childhood experiences influencing behavior.

Psychoanalysis

Freudian treatment method emphasizing unresolved unconscious conflicts.

Free association

A technique where clients share thoughts without censorship to uncover unconscious thoughts.

Dream interpretation

Analyzing dreams to understand both manifest and latent content.

Resistance

Avoidance of certain topics during therapy indicating unconscious conflict.

Transference

Application of feelings about significant others to the therapist.

Humanistic therapy

Focuses on self-acceptance and maximizing potential within a supportive environment.

Active listening

Therapeutic technique involving echoing and clarifying the client’s feelings.

Existential therapy

Explores individual perception and meaning in life, emphasizing personal responsibility and freedom.

Behavior therapy

Changing behaviors to alter emotional experiences using learning principles.

Counterconditioning

Associating a new response to previously conditioned stimuli.

Exposure therapy

A technique that involves facing fears in a controlled manner.

Flooding

Immediate exposure to a high anxiety-producing situation.

Systematic desensitization

Gradual exposure to anxiety-inducing stimuli while in a relaxed state.

Aversive conditioning

Pairing an unpleasant stimulus with an undesirable behavior.

Token economy

Reinforcing desired behaviors with rewards.

Cognitive therapy

Focus on restructuring negative thought patterns influencing behavior.

Socratic questioning

A dialogue process used in cognitive therapy to challenge and change damaging thinking.

Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)

A form of cognitive therapy focusing on changing unhealthy beliefs.

Integrative approaches

Combining various therapeutic orientations for effective treatment.

Group therapy

Therapeutic sessions where individuals gain insights from group interactions.

Family therapy

Therapeutic approach that views family as a system affecting individual behaviors.

Pharmacotherapy

Treatment of psychological disorders with medication.

Antidepressants

Medications designed to alleviate symptoms of depression.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

A class of antidepressants that increase serotonin availability.

Anxiolytic drugs

Medications that reduce anxiety symptoms.

Antipsychotic drugs

Medications used to treat delusions and hallucinations.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

A treatment that induces seizures to reset brain activity, primarily for MDD.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)

A non-invasive procedure using magnetic fields to treat certain mental health disorders.

Deep-brain stimulation (DBS)

A surgical treatment involving electrical impulses to targeted brain areas.

Psychosurgery

Surgical interventions on the brain, historically used more broadly and now a last resort.

Client perception

How clients perceive the effectiveness of their treatment.

Clinician perception

Therapists’ assessments of treatment effectiveness.

Randomized clinical trial (RCT)

A study design using random participant assignment to evaluate treatment effectiveness.

Efficacy

The extent to which a therapy works better than a control.

Effectiveness

How well a treatment performs in real-world conditions.

Therapeutic lifestyle change

Using lifestyle modifications such as exercise and social interaction to improve mental health.

Meta analysis

A statistical method for combining results from multiple studies.