Unit 5B Part 2

Psychotherapy

Treatment based on conversational interactions between a trained therapist and a client

Cultural humility

An ongoing practice for therapists and healthcare providers to reflect on their own cultural background, values, and beliefs in order to better understand others’ cultures in order to treat them more effectively

Therapeutic alliance

A positive, productive relationship between client and therapist

Psychotropic medication

Medication that affects neurotransmitters, used to treat psychological disorders

Deinstutionalization

Movement beginning in the 1950’s to reduce the long-term use of psychiatric hospitals and asylums because of development of psychotropic drugs

• outpatient treatment is now preferred, homelessness has increased

Nonmaleficence

Psychologists should not cause harm to their patients and should protect their welfare and rights

• APA general ethical principles

Fidelity

Psychologists take responsibility for their professional actions and consider their impact on clients and society

• APA general ethical principles

Integrity

Psychologists act with transparency, accuracy, honesty, and truthfulness

• APA general ethical principles

Justice

Psychologists want everyone to be able to benefit from psychological knowledge and recognize their biased and lack of expertise could inadvertently cause harm

• APA general ethical principles

Respect for people’s rights and dignity

Psychologists respect an individual’s right to privacy and to make choices for themselves

• they are aware that mental illness and other conditions make some people more vulnerable

• APA general ethical principles

Psychodynamic therapeutic techniques

Focus on searching for unconscious causes of disorder

Dream analysis

Through symbols using the manifest (storyline) content to reveal the latent (underlying meaning) content of a dream

• dreams are a window into the unconscious

• Psychodynamic therapeutic technique

Free Association

Saying whatever comes to mind (thought, feeling, or image) in response to a stimulus presented by the therapist

• psychodynamic therapeutic technique

Cognitive therapeutic techniques

Focus on trying to stop and prevent unhelpful and unrealistic thinking

Cognitive restructuring

A person learns to notice and change unrealistic or unhelpful patterns of thought

• cognitive therapeutic technique

Fear hierarchies

Listing and ranking activities that cause anxiety and then confronting them one at a time, moving from least scary to most scary

• cognitive therapeutic technique

Cognitive triad

Negative thoughts about oneself, the future, and the world

• cognitive therapeutic technique

Applied behavior analysis therapeutic techniques

Focus on using conditioning to address disorders

Counter-conditioning

Reversing the present conditioned response (classical conditioning)

• applied behavior analysis therapeutic technique

Exposure therapy

Treating anxiety through exposure to that which you normally avoid (in imagination or actuality)

• applied behavior analysis therapeutic technique

• Systematic desensitization

Systematic desensitization

Conditioning a patient to replace anxious feelings with relaxed feelings using a step-by-step approach

• An exposure therapy

• Applied behavior analysis therapeutic technique

Aversion therapy

An unpleasant state is associated with an unwanted behavior

• ex: bedwetting diaper shock

• Applied behavior analysis therapeutic technique

Token economy

Rewarding desired behavior (operant conditioning)

• ex: reward a child with ADHD when they participate in class (Candy, points, etc.)

• Applied behavior analysis therapeutic technique

Biofeedback

Using conditioning to teach a person to regulate their body systems, such as the sympathetic nervous system

• applied behavior analysis therapeutic technique

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) therapeutic techniques

Combines techniques from cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy to address thoughts and behaviors

Dialectical behavior therapy

Uses group and individual sessions to teach emotion regulation skills through mindfulness, self-reflection, and conversations with a therapist

• cognitive-behavioral therapy therapeutic technique

Rational emotive behavioral therapy

Therapist points out and challenges dysfunctional thinking that causes unhealthy behaviors and helps client replace them with positive thoughts and productive behaviors

• cognitive-behavioral therapy therapeutic technique

Humanistic therapeutic techniques

“Person-centered” focuses on helping people grow to their full potential and gain positive self-perception

Unconditional positive regard

Respecting, loving, or accepting the person no matter what

• humanistic therapeutic technique

Active listening

Listener shows they are paying attention to the speaker by reflecting main points and emotions back to them

• humanistic therapeutic technique

Group therapy

People meet regularly with those with similar issues to interact and help one another achieve insight into feelings and behaviors

Hypnosis

A changed state of consciousness that allows for increased relaxation, focus, and openness to suggestion

• useful for treating pain and anxiety, but research does not support using it to uncover childhood trauma

Biological therapeutic techniques

Focus on the effects of drugs, surgery, and other physical treatments on the mind and behavior

Antidepressant drugs

Usually attempt to increase serotonin or norepinephrine

• ex: Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil

• Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI’s)

• Biological therapeutic technique

Antianxiety drugs

Increase GABA, depress the central nervous system

• ex: Xanax, Valium

• Barbiturates, tranquilizers

• Biological therapeutic technique

Lithium

Interferes with and reduces action potentials, used to treat bipolar disorder

• biological therapeutic technique

Antipsychotic drugs

Block receptor sites for dopamine (antagonists)

• ex: Thorazine (chlorpromazine), Haldol (haloperidol)

• Can cause tardive dyskinesia

• Biological therapeutic technique

Tardive dyskinesia

Antipsychotic drugs can cause permanent muscle tremors as side effect

Psychosurgery

Examples include lesioning, cutting the corpus callosum, and hemispherectomy

• prefrontal lobotomy

• Biological therapeutic technique

Prefrontal lobotomy

Cutting the nerves connecting the frontal lobes with the inner brains’ thalamus

• popular in the 1930-50’s but rarely used today, often caused death or coma-like state

• A psychosurgery

Electroconvulsive therapy

Brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized person

• used for severe depression

• Biological therapeutic technique

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

Magnetic pulses are used to stimulate specific areas of the brain, effective for treating depressions and OCD

• biological therapeutic technique