Theories of Psychotherapy Final Exam

What beliefs/concepts do the humanistic therapies share?

Self-actualizing tendency, phenomenological perspective, wholeness of the person, and experiential awareness

What is the self-actualization tendency?

inherent tendency of people to reach their potential and grow in positive ways

What is the Phenomenological perspective?

subjective reality is most important

What is experiential awareness?

an understanding of the self and emotional experience, which can lead to authenticity and resilience

What existential therapists believe causes emotional difficulties?

Conflict is confrontation of the problems of existence which we try to keep pushed down and defend against

What is “dasein”?

• Being in the world and able to reflect

What is the goal of existential therapy?

• Help clients find meaning and value in their lives

What is Uberwelt?

self in relation to spirituality (how we construct meaning in our lives)

What is mitwelt?

self in relation to others (people)

What is eigenwelt?

self in relation to self (thoughts, feelings, desires)

What is umwelt?

self in relation to world of nature and natural laws (time and space)

What are the ultimate existential concerns?

the inevitable challenges that everyone faces due to life having no inherent meaning (Isolation, Meaningless, Freedom, and Death)

What is isolation?

we come into this world and leave this world alone

What is Meaningless?

we’re meaning seeking creatures in a world without meaning

What is Freedom?

we are free to make choices and choose our own life design

What is death?

awareness we will eventually die

What is authenticity in the context of existential therapy?

When people choose the life they want to live based on their values, they are more genuine and can live more fully in the present

Who is Viktor Frankl?

Austrian physician who was in a concentration camp and developed Logotherapy (“Man’s Search for Meaning”)

Who is Rollo May?

Lutheran minister turned psychoanalyst who applied existential philosophy to therapy

Who is Irvin Yalom?

A psychiatrist who came from poverty that was a prolific writer. He taught us about life’s ultimate concerns as applied to therapy

What is the goal of person-centered therapy?

• Congruence: a fully functioning person in a state of overlap of real and ideal selves

What was Rogers’ conception of actualization?

• Self-actualization: innate motivation to grow (people require the right conditions to grow, core conditions)

What is unconditional positive regard?

• People receive messages that they are basically worthy (warmth and respect)

What are Rogers’ facilitative conditions for change (creating the therapy environment?)

A relationship exist (two people in contact) • Clients are in a state of incongruence (experience vs self views) • Therapist is congruent in the relationship (genuine at that moment) • Therapist experiences unconditional positive regard for client (warmth, no conditions) • Therapist expresses empathy to client (“as if” it were your own world) • The therapist’s empathy, UPR, and genuineness is perceived by the client (communicated at least minimally)

What is the primary goal of the person-centered therapist/clinician and how do they help the person change?

Therapists are personable, genuine, supportive, and empathic. These attitudes encourage clients to be open about experiences and to process their incongruence and to become more self-aware and self-understanding

What is immediacy?

The therapist openly discussing their immediate feelings, thoughts, or reactions to the client and the therapeutic relationship, as they are happening in the present moment

What is motivational interviewing?

A counseling approach that helps clients resolve their ambivalence about making a change and finding their own reasons for wanting to change (ambivalence is a state of having mixed feelings)

What is genuineness?

being authentic (being yourself)

What is empathy?

“as if it were yours”

What is UPR?

warmth, accepting, respecting

What “technique” would most likely be used by person-centered therapists to show the core conditions?

What does the term ‘gestalt’ mean?

• Whole or completion – the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (shape)

How does living in the “here and now” relate to gestalt therapies aims?

• Here and now: living in the present moment increases awareness

What is unfinished business and how does it relate to “growth disorders”?

• Unfinished business: unexpressed feelings from the past that occur in the present and impact mental health

What are Growth Disorders?

people who deny aspects of themselves or aren’t living in the present are likely to become stuck and not adapt to life’s changes

Be familiar with the use of statements and questions in gestalt therapy and what kind of questions might be asked?

Statements are more important than questions-using immediacy for statements promotes direct contact and collaboration (avoid “Why” questions)

What’s the purpose of “I” statements in gestalt therapy?

• “I” statements encourage clients to use “I” statements to take responsibility and to focus on their own feelings

What’s the purpose of working with dreams in gestalt therapy?

Clients discuss their dreams in detail to facilitate wholeness and integration, clients can act out dreams and take on roles of each character to gain awareness of their polarities

What are polarities in gestalt therapy?

• People sometimes have views in terms of polarities (extremes, dichotomies)

What are the layers of contact in gestalt therapy?

Phony, Phobic, Impasse, Implosive, and Explosive

What is the phony layer?

inauthentic ways of relating to others

What is the phobic layer?

fear of revealing real identity

What is the impasse layer?

feeling of loneliness and feeling stuck

What is the implosive layer?

contact with pushed away feelings

What is the explosive layer?

authentic and strong ways of reacting to others

What is the focus and overall goal of gestalt therapy?

• Promoting awareness, clarity, and attention • Helping people live in the here and now • Improving sense of wholeness and integration

What is the best predictor of positive treatment outcome?

• Client-therapist relationship

What are the common factors in counseling?

• Expert role of counselor • Catharsis – release of emotions • Helping relationship • Insight – make meaning of experiences • Mastery – building competence and confidence

What are the “forces” of therapy in the correct order?

• Psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic

What was Freud’s conception client’s primary struggle, i.e., what causes them difficulties?

• When there is conflict between the Id and Superego

What is the most important part of our development according to object relations theory?

• Focus is on early childhood attachments and secure base

What is the goal of cognitive therapists?

To help individuals identify and change negative or unhelpful thinking patterns that negatively impact their emotions, behaviors, and overall well-being

What is the primary cause of clients’ struggles/issues according to REBT?

• Irrational beliefs often include words like should, ought, and must

Be able to identify basic premises of each of the “third” wave of behavioral theories (the mindful acceptance ones).

• Includes acceptance-based therapies, such as DBT, ACT, MBCT, and schema therapy • Mostly targets the process of thoughts rather than the content to gain awareness and acceptance • Holism, wellness, and context are important

What theory is associated with Sigmund Freud?

Classic Psychoanalysis

What theory is associated with Alfred Adler?

Individual Psychology

What theory is associated with Carl Jung?

Analytical Psychology

What theory is associated with Anna Freud, Heinz HArtmann, KAren Horney, and Erik Erikson?

Ego Psychology

What theory is associated with Melanie Klein, John Bowlby, Margret Mahler, and Otto Kernberg?

Object Relations Theory

What theory is associated with Heinz Kohut?

Self Psychology

What theory is associated with Albert Ellis?

REBT (Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy)

What theory is associated with Aaron Beck?

Cognitive Therapy

What theory is associated with David Meichenbaum?

stress inoculation & self-instructional training

What theory is associated with B.F. Skinner?

Operant Conditioning

What theory is associated with Albert Bandura?

Social Learning Theory, Bobo Doll Experiment, uses classical and operant conditioning

What theory is associated with Marsha Linehan?

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

What theory is associated with Steven Hayes?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

What theory is associated with Jon Kabat-Zinn?

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

What theory is associated with Jeffery Young?

Schema Therapy (ST)