Chapter 16 - Therapy and Treatment

History of therapy to take note of**:

• Mental illness was believed to have caused demonic possession, witchcraft, or an angry god

• Around 1960s, antipsychotic meds were introduced

• “Treatment” used to release spirits:

  • Exorcism, Trephining, Execution, Imprisonment

Involuntary Treatment

therapy that is not the individual’s choice 

Ex: if a person is in trouble with the law and is told therapy is part of their punishment 

Voluntary Treatment

the person chooses to attend therapy to obtain a relief from symptoms 

Ex: a person who feels unhappy may seek therapy to diagnose their unhappiness 

Play Therapy

often used with children since they are not likely to sit on a couch and recall their dreams or engage in traditional talk therapy

(with children everything needs to be fun because it might be hard for them to engage in it, children play their hopes, fantasies, and traumas w/ dolls, stuffed animals, etc.)

Psychotherapy

psychological treatment that employs various methods to help someone overcome personal problems, or to attain personal growth 

Behavior Therapy

utilizes classical and operant conditioning learning techniques

Cognitive Therapy

form of psychotherapy that focuses on how a person’s thoughts lead to feelings of distress (how you think determines how you feel and act) 

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

psychotherapy that aims to change cognitive distortions and self-defeating behaviors (helps people understand how their thoughts affect their behavior); intended to correct distortions

Group Therapy

treatment modality in which 5-10 people with the same issue or concern meet together with a trained clinician 

• can help decrease a client’s shame and isolation about a problem while offering need support both from the therapist and other members (ex: Alcoholics Anonymous) 

Individual Therapy

treatment modality in which the client and clinician meet one-on-one 

• Meets regularly with therapist who helps client explore their feelings, work towards life challenges identify aspects of themselves and their lives that they wish to change, and set goals to help them towards these changes

Family Therapy

special form of group therapy consisting of one or more families

• The family is viewed as an organized system and each individual within the family is a contributing member who creates and maintains processes within the system that shape behavior (in many cases, one member has problems that detrimentally affect everyone) 

Aversive Conditioning

utilizes an unpleasant stimulus to stop an undesirable behavior; usually used for breaking habits (biting nails, smoking, drinking, etc)