Chapter 15: Psychological Therapies

therapy

treatment methods aimed at making people feel better and function more effectively

psychotherapy

therapy for mental disorders in which a person with a problem talks with a psychological professional

Biomedical therapies

medications

insight therapies

help people gain insight into their behaviors, thoughts, and feelings

cognitive therapies

help correct dysfunctional types of thinking

action therapy

change dysfunctional behaviors directly

Sigmund Freud, insight therapy, psychoanalaysis

1. Free association: the effort to externalize damaging material and like literally say everything you’re feeling

2. Dream Interpretation: latent and manifest content

3. Resistance: the client often has difficulty opening up and sharing relevant info with the therapist

4. Transference: for the client, feelings toward an individual in their life will be transferred to the therapist

5. Psychodynamic theory: a more modern version and direct version of psychoanalysis

Carl Rogers, insight therapies, person-centered therapy

1. Non directive: a style of therapy in which the therapist remains relatively neutral (without interpretation or direct action). drives some people insane because it moves so slow (asking questions so the client comes up with their own solutions)

2. Authenticity: the need to be absolutely genuine in interactions with clients

3. Unconditional positive regard versus conditions of worth: self explanatory

4. Reflection: responding to the individual in a way that they are reassured that they are heard

5. empathy: be able to experience the other person’s experiences; think as they think, feel as they feel

6. Real Self → Ideal Self; first identify where you are (real self) and then figure out what you want to become (ideal self)

Fritz Perls insight therapy

founder of gestalt therapy which is similar to person centered therapy but much more directive where you focus on self-awareness and integration of the entire person

behavior therapies

action therapies based on the principles of classical and operant conditioning plus modeling to achieve their objectives

B.F. Skinner and Operant Conditioning

we are conditioned by the consequences of our behavior through reinforcement and punishment; in therapy systemically reward or punish to effect permanent changeI

Ivan Pavlov: Classical Conditioning

we form associations that cue innate or previously learned behavior; in therapy we work to form new associations that predict effective functioning; can be used to eliminate the negative and encourage positive behaviors

albert bandura: social learning theory

accepts both classical and operant conditioning but adds observational learning, more commonly known as modeling; in therapy providing models for appropriate behavior can be greatly beneficial to those observing

systematic desensitization

sometimes known as exposure therapy

• complete relaxation

• hierarchy of ear-inducing stimuli

• inclusion of a vicarious component (modeling) as the client makes progress

• models demonstrate the safety of the feared stimulus

flooding

the client is immersed in the fear inducing stimuli and not allowed to make the usual escape, clearly this needs to be handled by experts and performed with caution!

contingency contract

contract with the therapist that rewards desirable behavior and/or punishes undesirable behavior → black woman overcoming amphetamines addiction by giving therapist money and if woman relapsed therapist donated to KKK

extinction

extinct negative behavior by systematic rewarding of positive and systematic punishment of negative behavior

behavior activation

often used with depressives; sitting there depressed is no solution, often therapists will mandate certain daily activities to begin the move out of depression

cognitive therapies

focus is on helping clients recognize distortions in their thinking and replacing distorted unrealistic beliefs with more realistic helpful thoughts

Aaron Beck and Cognitive Therapy

• arbitrary inference: when a negative event occurs you think it’s your fault

• selective thinking: I focus on negative events and ignore positive ones

• overgeneralization: if I do poorly on one test assume that I will do poorly on ALL tests

• magnification/minimalization: I magnify the insult someone gave me and pay no attention to the reality that I am blessed in a thousand ways

• Personalization: Alabama loses to Georgia so I think it’s my fault

Albert Ellis: Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

similar in content to aaron beck but he’s much more directive and abrasive in how he drew the client’s attention to these dysfunctional forms of thinking

Family counseling

sometimes the family dynamic is neurotic and a therapist must work with the entire family to resolve their dysfunctional interactive beahvior

Self-Help Groups

• different settings of groups: groups can be used for everything from learning better study techniques to resolving serious psychiatric disorders

• different objectives: as the setting for different groups varies, so the objectives will reflect those settings

• ideal size and duration: varies from setting to setting but ideal for many groups is for 8-12 individuals to meet once a week for 15 weeks for about 1.5 hours

• setting personal goals: almost all groups involve goal setting consistent with objectives of individual group members

• the power of accountability: the power of groups is great because each week the other group members will know whether or not you did your weekly assignment

  • support of others who share your struggle: alcoholics annoymous, etc.; it is often helpful to interact with others in the same boat

antipsychotic drugs

drugs used to treat psychotic symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, and other bizarre beahvior

antianxiety drugs

drugs that calm a person and reduce anxiety

mood stabilizing drugs

widely used with bipolar patients to minimize mood swings

antidepressent drugs

used to elevate mood; the goal of therapy is to create a personal dynamic where the meds aren’t required anymore

electroconvulsive therapy

occasionally used to treat cases of severe depression; electrodes are placed on either one or both sides of a person’s head and an electric current is passed through the electrodes that is strong enough to cause a seizure or convulsion

psychosurgery

not used anymore!