Intro to Counseling Final

Psychoanalytic theory claims to be deterministic. What does it mean?

It is claiming to that actions are biologically driven

Goal of psychodynamic theory

make the unconscious known; the unconscious is problematic and can influence the conscious

Core problem of psychodynamic theory

Humans learn to defend themselves against the dangers of the world. Those defenses become entrenched in one’s life and relationships. They are then used in all situations even those that are not threatening.

• Habitual defense patterns inhibit human flourishing

Defense Mechanism

Psychological strategies used to cope with anxiety and maintain self-image, often unconsciously.

5 Defense Mechanisms

1. Denial

2. Oppression

3. Displacement

4. Introjection

5. Grandiosity

End goals of psychodynamic therapy

1. Seeing oneself and others in a reality based manner

2. Having reciprocal and interdependent relationships

3. Viewing one’s good and bad qualities without rejecting or idealizing others based on one’s mood or immediate needs

What were the results of Gottman’s research?

Can predict with 90% certainty which couples will stay married and which will divorce

Can predict couples who will be happy/unhappy

Masters vs Disasters

What were some of the findings of Gottman’s research? (3)

• Masters were gentler with one another

• 5:1 positive to negative emotions during conflict

• Negative feedback isn’t all the same

What are the four horsemen according to Gottman?

Criticism, Withdrawal, Contempt, Defense

Criticism

Describing a problem as a flaw in someone’s personality

Defensiveness

The key is to accept responsibility for at least part of the problem

Contempt

I’m smarter/better than you

Withdrawal/Stonewalling

Avoiding or leaving the conversation

What was one difference that Gottman pointed out between masters and disasters

Disasters cannot exit negative emotions during conflict; masters repair and exit conflict

Prevailing themes of Gottman’s approach

• Friendship is vital

  • Learn your partner’s inner psychological world

  • Communicate respect and admiration

• Manage conflict constructively using repair

• Facilitate a relationship that is generally focused on positive emotions

Sources of heat in Marriages (3)

1. Current conflict

2. History with the conflict theme

   1. Muscle memory

   2. React to conflict because of pre-existing circumstances

   3. Intense emotions from a low level event

3. Traditions from Family of Origin

   1. Cue cards from the past

   2. A toolbox for dealing with distress in life

4 Marriage Counseling Practices

1. Must stay above the immediate argument and watch for all three strains of marital conflict

2. The counselor must be in charge

3. Avoid multi-directed partiality

4. Must not overidentify with one spouse over the other

Family Systems Theory

Focuses on how families behave as systems communication and interactions

• how they adapt to stress

• a change in one person affects the whole family

Structural Family Therapy

Focuses on the structure of the family system

• Boundaries

• Power Hierarchies

Alliance

Designates a positive affinity between two units of the system. When they stand in opposition to another part of the system, then one may speak of coalitions

Boundary

a metaphor that stands for particular regularly occurring transactions between subsystems. These transactions regulate the amount and kind of information and the energy that flows from one subsystem to another.

Coalition

Designates an arrangement, generally involving several or many family members, in which there is a combative, exclusionary, or scapegoating stance toward a third party.

Disengaged

Refers to families with depleted sensitivity to individual members and low systems resonance. Interpersonal distances are too great, and subsystem boundaries are too rigid. Individual behaviors are seldom noticed or have little potential to activate the system.

Enmeshed

Refers to families in which there is extreme sensitivity among the individual members to each other and to their primary subsystem. Even small behaviors reverberate quickly and with increasing magnitude throughout the entire system. There is little interpersonal distance and considerable blurring of boundaries

Feedback loop

communicational processes that circle across subsystem boundaries and back again, signaling to the members of that unit their degree of conformity to or difference from some overall purpose of the system

Hierarchy

a rule of ordering such that some elements of a system are subordinate to other elements.

Homeostasis

The relatively stable state a system achieves for substantial periods of time.

Structure

the interactional patterns that arrange or organize a family’s component subsystems into somewhat constant relationships. They are seen in the relatively stable subsystems ,alliances, and hierarchies that characterize a family’s organizational map

Subsystem

One element of the total system. It may comprise a single person or several persons joined together by common membership criteria, such as age, sex, or shared purpose.

Issues of enmeshed families

• anxious attachment

• unhealthy dependency

• Even small behaviors have an impact

Problems of disengaged families

• non sense of “we-ness”

• No structure

• lack of respect

Main Goal of SFT

Increase empathy

Smaller goals of SFT (5)

• Shift members’ positions to disrupt maladaptive patterns

• Strengthen the parental hierarchy

• Create clear and flexible boundaries

• Establish the spousal subsystem as distinctive from the parental subsystem

• Teach adaptive behavioral routines that become the new structure

Bowen’s Family Systems Theory Thesis

People are best understood by assessing the interactions between and among family members

• Symptoms are an expression of habits within a family

• The clients problematic behavior may serve a purpose for the family or be a symptom of intergenerational dysfunctional patterns

Tenents of Bowen’s FST (4)

• Family = client

• present focused

• Shorter term and solution focused

• Change happens through groups

Pros of Bowen’s FST

• acknowledges the system around the individual

• Highlights our relational nature

• Avoids scapegoating individuals

• Helps many people

Cons of Bowen’s FST

Requires cooperation of many individuals

Differentiation of self

The capacity to be an individual while part of a group

Exposure therapy

a set of psychological treatment techniques for pathological fear that is typically observed in people with anxiety disorders

Goals of Exposure and Response Prevention

When obsessional fear is confronted without performing rituals (compulsions)

1. Gradually confront stimuli that evoke obsessive fear

2. Refrain from compulsive rituals that manage the fear

3. Leads to extinction — reduction in the conditioned fear response associated with the stimulus

Obsessions

Recurrent, intrusive thoughts and impulses that evoke anxiety

Compulsions

Deliberate behavioral rituals or mental acts performed to neutralize the obsessional anxiety

Dysfunctional cognitions relations to anxiety entail either (2)

1. Exaggerated estimates of the likelihood of harm

2. Exaggerated estimates of the severity of harm

Habituation

stress decreases in response to repeated exposure to the stimulus

Solution focused brief therapy (SFBT)

• future focused

• Goal oriented: targeted measurable, motivating

• Optimistic

• Anti-deterministic

Core Belief of SFBT

You don’t need to know the cause to solve it

• minimal interest in how the problem came about

• Focus instead on what is possible

• Minimal attention to diagnosis or history

Tenents of SFBT (5)

• People can construct their own solutions

• Has parallels with positive psych

• Look for “what is working”

• Problem focused thinking can actually be the problem

• Focus on small, attainable goals to increase confidence + momentum

Method of SFBT

• Client asked to describe problem

• Develop goals

• Ask about times when the problem was not present

• Provide a summary of the problem, encouragement, and action steps

• Work backwards asking the client to envision the resolution of their problem

• Elements of the desired solution often are already present in the client’s life

More tenents of SFBT (6)

• Small changes often lead to larger ones

• The problem doesn’t occur all the time

• If something is working, do it more

• If something is not working, do something different

• If it’s not broken, don’t fix it

• We have control over our choices

Reactance Theory

We rebel when others try to control us

Righting reflex

The desire to fix what seems wrong with people and to set them on a better course, relying on directing

Motivational Interviewing

A collaborative conversation style for strengthening a person’s own motivation and commitment to change

Goals of motivational interviewing

1. Helping participants to find their own reasons to change

2. Exploring and resolving their ambivalence about the change

3 elements of MI

1. Conversations about change

2. Collaborative

3. Evocative