CH 5 : Psychosocial Theories of Psychiatric Nursing

Anxiety

A feeling/energy response that arises when a threat or unmet expectation is perceived (Peplau: mild anxiety can help learning; severe anxiety interferes)

Behaviorisim

A learning view that studies observable behavior rather than unseen mental activity (Supports behavior plans, reinforcement, and skill building)

Classical conditioning

Learning by pairing a neutral cue with a stimulus until the cue triggers a response

(Explains learned automatic reactions, including some fear responses)

Cognition

The internal processes of perception, memory, judgment, and understanding (What a patient thinks can influence mood and action)

Cognitions

Thoughts or mental images occurring in a person’s stream of awareness (Assess repeated automatic thoughts, especially in depression/anxiety)

Cognitive interventions

Techniques that identify, challenge, and reframe unhelpful thought patterns (Help patients build more accurate, useful ways of thinking)

Cognitive theory

A framework linking thought processes and beliefs with emotions and behavior (Basis for cognitive and cognitive behavioral approaches

Collective family efficacy

A family’s shared belief that it can work together to reach desired outcomes (Positive shared beliefs may protect against depressive symptoms and risky behavior)

Countertransference

The nurse/therapist’s feelings and attitudes toward the patient, especially when shaped by the caregiver’s past (can distort objectively; requires reflection, supervision, and boundaries)

Defense mechanisms

Usually unconscious coping patterns that protect a person from distressing thoughts or feelings (May temporarily lower anxiety but can become maladaptive)

Empathy

Understanding the patient’s world from the patient’s internal frame of reference (Build trust without taking over the patient’s feelings or choices)

Empathic linkage

Feeling in oneself an emotion being experienced by another person

Family dynamics

Repeated interaction patterns within the family system overtime (a change in one family member can affect the entire system)

Formal support systems

Organizations that provide structured help, such as hospitals or nursing homes (identify services while avoiding overdependence on the formal system)

Informal support systems

Family, friends, neighbors, peers, and community connections (often provide practical and emotional support that promotes recovery)

Interpersonal relations

The patterns and processes that occur between people (Sullivan and Peplau place relationships at the center of development and care)

Libido

Freud’s term for psychic energy associated with sexual instinct and drive (Part of Freud’s explanation of personality development)

Modeling

Learning by watching and initiating another person or symbolic model (The nurse demonstrates coping, communication, and self-care skills)

Object relations

Psychological attachment to another person; early attachments influence later relationships (Helps explain repeated relationships patterns)

Operant behavior

Behavior shaped by what happens after it - reinforcement makes repetition more likely (Foundation for token economies and behavior modification)

Psychoanalysis

Freud’s therapy for bringing unconscious conflicts into awareness through methods such as free association and dream interpretation (introduced concepts used in therapeutic relationships)

Self-efficacy

A person’s belief that they can deal effectively with a situation or environment (Stronger self-efficacy supports motivation, goals, and persistence)

Self-system

Peplau’s socially developed ‘anti-anxiety system’ used to protect stability and identity (negative early messages may become part of how a person views self)

Social distance

The degree of difference between the values/roles of formal organizations and primary support groups (best balance allows communication without enmeshment or isolation)

Transcation

In king’s model, a goal-directed transfer of value reached through nurse-patient interaction (shared perception, communication, and mutual goals lead to action)

Transference

The patient redirects feelings and behavior from important childhood relationships onto the current caregiver (recognizes the pattern and use it therapeutically; do not personalize it)

Unconditional positive regard

Nonjudgmental caring and acceptance of the client as a person (core to Rogers’ nondirective, client-centered therapy)