Week 10 - Treatment

Eugenics Movement

viewed mental disorders as a defect that required institutionalization and sterilization

Deinstitutionalization

the closing of large asylums achieved by providing funding for people to stay in their communities and be treated and supported locally

Eugenics Movement

viewed mental disorders as a defect that required institutionalization and sterilization

Deinstitutionalization

the closing of large asylums achieved by providing funding for people to stay in their communities and be treated and supported locally

Psychotherapy

a general term for treatment that includes talking with a mental health provider

Psychoanalysis

a theory and therapeutic approach that explores the unconscious mind and its influence on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, aiming to uncover and resolve repressed conflicts and traumas

Psychoanalysis examples

• “Tell me about your relationship with your mother”

• “Your subconscious is telling you that…”

• “Say the first thing that comes to your mind”

Psychodynamic Therapy

(descended from psychoanalysis) focuses on helping people gain insight on the impact of unconscious internal force, early relationships, and critical childhood experiences

Existential and Humanistic Traditions

• Rational choices 

• Self-acceptance

• Maximum potential

Existential/Humanistic approach

psychologists are guided by the idea that people must take responsibility for their lives and their actions and live fully in the present

Existential/Humanistic approach examples

• “What would you like to focus on?”

• “Does that feel like something true to you?”

• “What is your role in the situation?”

Existential-Humanistic therapy

insight-oriented, promotes growth than curing illness

Client-centered therapy

therapists are encouraged to provide an empathetic, genuine, and accepting environment and to use active listening where the therapist echoes and clarifies what their clients are saying and feeling

Client-centered therapy examples

• “Can you tell me about that?”

• “So I hear what you’re saying is…”

• “That’s a good question. What do you think about it?”

Behavior Therapists

work to replace negative behaviors with more positive or effective ones

Behavior Therapists

• View negative behaviors as the problem to be solved

• All behavior is the result of learning 

• Remedy = new learning 

• The goal is to change behavior in order to change the emotions

Behavior Therapists examples

• “What are you experiencing right now?” 

• “I wonder what it would be like if…”

• “What have you tried?”

Operant conditioning

changing behavior by using positive or negative reinforcement

Exposure therapy

used to treat anxiety by having a person face their fears through gradual exposure to situations that they typically avoid

Behavioral Exposure therapy

the idea of flooding someone with the thing that causes them to stress

Cognitive therapy

focuses on what people think rather than what they do (assuming that if you can change a self-defeating thought, you can change the related behavior)

Cognitive therapy examples

• “I could never do that” → “I recognize my strengths”

• “I’m not good enough” → “Setbacks happen”

• “I did fail that test but that doesn’t mean I’m going to fail out of school”

Cognitive therapy + Behavioral therapy =

Cognitive-Behavioral therapy (CBT)

Cognitive-Behavioral therapy (CBT)

focuses on present issues rather than the past and includes highly structured sessions and even homework aimed at helping people practice new skills and new ways of thinking

Cognitive-Behavioral therapy (CBT) examples

• Notice unhelpful thoughts

• Plan pleasant events 

• Don’t avoid things that make you anxious

Mindfulness

a process that tries to cultivate a non-judgemental yet attentive mental state

Mindfulness approach

focuses on awareness of bodily sensations, thoughts, and the outside environment (other therapies work to modify or eliminate these sensations and thoughts, mindfulness focus on non-judgmentally accepting them)

Mindfulness approach examples

• Draws attention from past and future stressors

• Encourages acceptance of troubling thoughts and feelings

• Promotes physical relaxation

Randomized Control Trial

• Participants are assigned to a control group or experimental group

• Accounts for individual differences 

• If people in the experimental group get better (and those in the control group don’t) then the treatment made the difference

Placebo

medically neutral substance

Waitlist Control Group

a group of people who haven’t started therapy yet

Treatment manual

tells the therapist exactly how to proceed during the study

Meta-analysis

combining results across multiple trials to see whether the treatment works

Efficacy

under ideal conditions

Effectiveness

how well it works in real world situations

Cognitive-Behavioral therapy (CBT)

• Depression 

• PTSD
  Anxiety disorders

• Eating disorders

• Bipolar disorder

• Substance abuse

Eclecticism

• Drawing on multiple perspectives

• Tailoring an approach to the specific person

Proponents of Eclecticism

treatment should be based on therapist’s judgement

Opponents of Eclecticism

it is critical that evidence-based treatment is delivered with integrity

Confirmation Bias

the tendency to favor information that confirms our beliefs

Illusory Correlation

the tendency to perceive casual relationships where there are none

Bias Blind Spot

the inclination to perceive biases in others but not ourselves

Mood stabilizers

medications to treat bipolar disorder

Tranquilizers (Anxiolytics)

medications to treat disabling anxiety

Beta-blocker

medication intended to control autonomic arousal

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

involves using electrical current to induce seizures to help alleviate the effects of severe depression

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)

involves the painless application of repeated electromagnetic pulses

Deep Brain Simulation (DBS)

includes surgically implanting a kind of brain pacemaker that sends out electrical impulses to specific parts of the brain to help normalize brain activity

Vagal Nerve Stimulation

involves implanting a battery-powered stimulator in the chest just underneath the skin