Treatment of Abnormal Psychology (5.5a, 5.5b, 5.5c, 5.5d)

Psychotherapy

involves an emotionally charged, confiding interaction between a trained therapist and a mental patient.

Biomedical

uses drugs or other procedures that act on the patient’s nervous system, curing him or her of psychological disorders.

Eclectic approach

uses various forms of healing techniques depending upon the client’s unique problems.

Free association

The patient lies on a couch and speaks about whatever comes to their mind. Free to say whatever is on their mind, dreams, thoughts, etc without perhaps any connections or association.

Resistance

phenomenon often encountered in clinical practice in which patients either directly or indirectly exhibit paradoxical opposing behaviors in presumably a clinically initiated push and pull of a change process

Interpretation

This technique helps patients become aware of any previously repressed aspect of emotional conflict (as reflected in resistance) and to uncover the meaning of uncomfortable feelings evoked by transference

Transference

Eventually the patient opens up and reveals his or her innermost private thoughts, developing positive or negative feelings towards the therapist.

Psychodynamic therapy

Influenced by Freud, in a face-to-face setting, psychodynamic therapists understand symptoms and themes across important relationships in a patient’s life.

Interpersonal Therapy

Falls under the Humanistic Approach, and it hones in on new insights and self-acceptance and growth rather than bringing up the past and negative feelings/thoughts.

Humanistic Approach

Insight therapies

Client-centered therapy —> The therapist listens to the needs of the patient in an accepting and non-judgmental way, addressing problems in a productive way and building his or her self-esteem.

Active listening —> The therapist engages in active listening and echoes, restates, and clarifies the patient’s thinking, acknowledging expressed feelings.

Unconditional positive regard —> creating a caring, non-judgmental attitude which helps clients develop self-awareness and ultimately self-acceptance

Counterconditioning

is a procedure that conditions new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviors

Exposure Therapy

Expose patients to things they fear and avoid. Through repeated exposures, anxiety lessens because they become accustomed to the things feared.

Systematic desensitization

A type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant, relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli commonly used to treat phobias.

Virtual reality exposure therapy

Using virtual reality as a way to safely face-be exposed to fears

Aversive conditioning

A type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state with an unwanted behavior. With this technique, temporary conditioned aversion to alcohol has been reported.

Token economy

In institutional settings therapists may create a token economy in which patients exchange a token of some sort, earned for exhibiting the desired behavior, for various privileges or treats.

Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)

• Focuses on helping clients identify irrational and self-defeating thoughts.

• Therapists challenges rationality of these thoughts and feelings

• Goal of more productive beliefs/thoughts

Beck’s therapy for depression (Cognitive Therapy)

Aaron Beck (1979) suggests that depressed patients believe that they can never be happy (thinking) and thus associate minor failings (e.g. failing a test [event]) in life as major causes for their depression.

• Beck believes that cognitions such as “I can never be happy” need to change in order for depressed patients to recover. This change is brought about by gently questioning patients.

Catastrophizing

believing your in the worse possible situation

Cognitive-Behavior Therapy

aims to alter the way people act (behavior therapy) and alter the way they think (cognitive therapy).

• A person with a fear of social situations might learn new ways of thinking, but also practice approaching people.

Group Therapy

normally consists of 6-9 people attending a 90-minute session that can help more people and costs less. Clients benefit from knowing others have similar problems

Family Therapy

treats the family as a system. Therapy guides family members toward positive relationships and improved communication.

Confirmation bias

the human tendency to only seek out information that supports one position or idea.

• causes you to have a bias towards your original position because if you only seek out information that supports one idea, you will only find information that supports that idea

Regression toward the mean

the tendency of results that are extreme by chance on first measurement—

• i.e. extremely higher or lower than average—to move closer to the average when measured a second time

Meta-analysis

a statistical procedure for analysing the results of multiple studies ot reach and overall conclusion.

Evidence-based practice

clinical decisions making that integrates the best available research with clinical expertise and client characteristics and preferences.

EMDR—Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing 

A structured therapy that encourages the patient to briefly focus on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements),

• bilateral stimulation —> which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memories

Light Exposure Therapy

A light therapy box mimics outdoor light.

• It's thought that this type of light may cause a chemical change in the brain that lifts your mood and eases other symptoms of SAD , such as being tired most of the time and sleeping too much.

Therapeutic Alliance

the connection between patient and therapist, the mutual agreement to work together on tasks related to the patient's well-being

Resilience

process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands

Types of Therapists

Clinical psychologist —> most are psychologists and work in agencies or in private practices

Psychiatrist —> specializes in the treatment of psychological disorders. provides medicine to clients

Clinical/psychiatric social worker —> social workers who offer psychotherapy

Counselor → specialize in problems from family relations

Biomedical Therapies

1. Drug Treatments

2. Surgery

3. Electric-shock therapy

Psychopharmacology

study of the effects drugs have on mood, sensation, thinking, behavior, judgment and evaluation, and memory

• works best in association with psychotherapy

Antipsychotic drugs

Classical antipsychotics

• [Chlorpromazine (Thorazine)]: Remove a number of positive symptoms associated with schizophrenia such as agitation, delusions, and hallucinations.

Atypical antipsychotics

• [Clozapine (Clozaril)]: Remove negative symptoms associated with schizophrenia such as apathy, jumbled thoughts, concentration difficulties, and difficulties in interacting with others.

Tardive dyskinesia 

a movement disorder related to the regulation of dopamine in the nervous system

Antianxiety drugs

Antianxiety drugs (Xanax and Ativan) depress the central nervous system and reduce anxiety and tension by elevating the levels of the Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmitter.

Antidepressant drugs

Antidepressant drugs like Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil are Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) that improve the mood by elevating levels of serotonin by inhibiting reuptake.

• Mood Stabilizing drugs—Lithium (bipolar)

  • Lithium Carbonate, a common salt, has been used to stabilize manic episodes in bipolar disorders. It moderates the levels of norepinephrine and glutamate neurotransmitters.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

ECT is used for severely depressed patients who do not respond to drugs. The patient is anesthetized and given a muscle relaxant. Patients usually get a 100 volt shock that relieves them of depression.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)

repeated application of pulses of magnetic energy to the brain; used to stimulate or suppress brain activity

Psychosurgery

a type of surgical ablation or disconnection of brain tissue with the intent to alter affective or cognitive states caused by mental illness.

• Psychosurgery was first introduced as a treatment for severe mental illness by Egas Moniz in 1936.

Lobotomy

form of neurosurgical treatment for psychiatric disorder (violent or highly emotional patients) or neurological disorder that involves severing connections in the brain's prefrontal cortex (emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain)

Hypnosis

a social interaction in which one person suggests to another that certain feelings, perceptions, and thoughts or behaviors will spontaneously occur

• in a therapeutic context, the hypnotist attempts to use suggestions to reduce unpleasant physical sensations or emotions

  • Social influence theory

  • Dissociation theory

Posthypnotic suggestion

a suggestion, made during a hypnosis session, to be carried out after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control undesired symptoms and behaviors

Posttraumatic growth

positive psychological changes following a struggle with extremely challenging circumstances and life crises