Chapter 16: Psychological Treatment

psychotherapy (psychological treatment)

holds the belief that people with psychological problems can learn more adaptive ways of perceiving, evaluating, and behaving

efficacy

the drug or treatment cures or relieves some target condition

manualized therapies

used to minimize the variability in patients’ clinical outcomes that might result from characteristics of the therapist themselves

psychopharmacology

the use of medications to treat mental disorders

behavior therapy

a direct and active treatment that recognizes the importance of behavior, acknowledges the role of learning, and includes thorough assessment and evaluation.

exposure therapy

a type of behavior therapy that involves guided exposure to anxiety-provoking stimuli, either through systematic desensitization (a very controlled, slow, and gradual way), flooding (a more extreme manner at full strength, in vivo exposure (real exposure), or imaginal exposure(imaginary exposure)

aversion therapy

a type of behavior therapy that involves modifying undesirable behavior by punishment either through drugs that have specific effects (e.g., Antabuse, which induces vomiting when a person ingests alcohol) or self-punishment (e.g., wearing a rubber band and snapping it when temptation arises)

modeling

a type of behavior therapy that involves the client learning new skills by imitating another person who performs the behavior to be acquired

systematic reinforcement (contingency management programs)

a type of behavior therapy that involves using reinforcement to increase the frequency of desired behavior

response shaping

a subtype of systematic reinforcement that involves using positive reinforcement, by gradual approximation, to establish an response that’s actively resisted or not initially in an individual’s behavioral repertoire

token economies

a type of behavior therapy that involves an individual being paid for their work in tokens (money) that can later be exchanged for desired objects and activities

cognitive/cognitive-behavioral therapy

consists of the conviction that cognitive processes influence emotion, motivation, and behavior; and that the use of cognitive and behavior-change techniques in a pragmatic manner

rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT; Albert Ellis)

a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy that involves attempts to change a client’s maladaptive thought processes on which which maladaptive emotional responses and behavior are presumed to depend

Beck’s cognitive therapy

a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy that involves assuming that problems result from biased processing of external events or internal stimuli that distort the way that a person makes sense of the experiences that they have in the world, leading to cognitive errors

humanistic-experimental therapies

views psychopathology as stemming from problems of alienation, depersonalization, loneliness, and a failure to find meaning and genuine fulfillment

client-centered (person-centered) therapy (Carl Rogers)

a type of humanistic-experimental therapy that involves focusing on the natural power of the organism to heal itself by removing the constraints and restrictions that grow out of unrealistic demands that people tend to place on themselves when they believe, as a condition of self-worth, that they shouldn’t have certain kinds of feelings

motivational interviewing (MI)

a type of humanistic-experimental therapy that involves a brief form of therapy that can be delivered in one or two session to help people resolve their ambivalence about change and make a commitment to treatment

gestalt therapy

a type of humanistic-experimental therapy that involves focusing on teaching clients to recognize the bodily processes and emotions that they had been blocking off from awareness and increases the individual’s self-awareness and self-acceptance

psychodynamic therapy

focuses on individual personality dynamics, usually from a psychoanalytic or some psychoanalytically derived perspective

classic psychoanalysis

a type of psychodynamic therapy that involves an intensive (at least 3 sessions per week) long-term procedure for uncovering repressed memories, thoughts, fears, and conflicts presumably stemming from problems in early psychosexual development‚ and helping individuals come to terms with them in light of the realities of adult life using free association, analysis of dreams, analysis of resistance, and analysis of transference

psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy

a type of psychodynamic therapy that involves less frequent sessions that consists of a face to face conversation style with the client and therapist to clarify distortions and gaps in the client’s construction of the origins and consequences of their problems, thus challenging client “defenses” as they present themselves

couples therapy

works towards improving communication skills and developing more adaptive problem-solving styles while encouraging both partners to alter their reactions to the other

traditional behavioral couple therapy (TBCT)

a type of couples therapy that’s based on a social-learning model and views marital satisfaction and marital distress in terms of reinforcement. increasing caring behaviors in the relationship and teaches partners to resolve conflicts in a more constructive way through training in communication skills and adaptive problem solving

integrative behavioral couple therapy (IBCT)

a type of couples therapy that focuses on acceptance and includes strategies that help each member of the couple come to terms with and accept some of the limitations of their partner while integrating change strategies to provide a form of therapy that’s more tailored to individuals characteristics, relationship “themes” and the needs of the couple

family therapy

designed to reduce high levels of criticism and family tension

structural family therapy

a type of family therapy that focuses on changing the organization of the family in such a way that the family members behave more supportively and less pathogenically toward each other

multimodal therapy

a relaxation of boundaries and a willingness on the part of therapists to explore different ways of approaching clinical problems

eclectic orientation

trying to borrow and combine concepts and techniques from various schools, depending on what seems best for the individual case

interpersonal therapy (IPT)

focuses on current relationships in the patient’s life with the goal of reducing symptoms and improving functioning, and the idea that all of us at time involuntary involve schemas acquired from our earliest interactions with others in interpreting what’s going on in our current relationships

antipsychotics (neuroleptics)

drugs that treat psychotic disorders (e.g., schizophrenias) by alleviating the intensity of delusions and hallucinations by blocking dopamine receptors

antidepressants

drugs that treat depression disorders by increasing the availability of serotonin, norepinephrine, or both

antianxiety (anxiolytics)

drugs that keep anxiety symptoms under control; often used as supplementary treatments in neurological disorders to control convulsive seizures

lithium

s widely used for the treatment of bipolar disorder; also has an antidepressant effect among those with bipolar disorder and unipolar depression

electroconvulsive therapy

a type of biological intervention that induces convulsions in patients with schizophrenia.

transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

a type of biological intervention that treats major depression