Psychology 101 - Chapter 16 - Vocabulary

Psychotherapy

treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to address psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth

Biomedical therapy

prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person’s physiology

Eclectic approach

an approach to psychotherapy that uses techniques from various forms of therapy

Psychoanalysis

(1) Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts. (2) Freud’s therapeutic technique. Freud believed the patient’s free associations, resistances, and dreams—and the analyst’s interpretations of them—released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight

Resistance

in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of unpleasant or anxiety-laden material

Interpretation

in psychoanalysis, the analyst’s noting of dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors and events in order to promote insight and growth

Transference

in psychoanalysis, the patient’s transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent)

Psychodynamic therapy

therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition; views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences, and seeks to enhance self-insight

Insight therapies

therapies that aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing a person’s awareness of underlying motives and defenses

Person-centered therapy

a humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the client directs the discussion and the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within an accepting, genuine, empathic environment to facilitate clients’ growth. (Also called client-centered therapy.)

Active listening

empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and seeks clarification. A feature of Rogers’ person-centered therapy

Unconditional positive regard

a caring, accepting, and nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients develop self-awareness and self-acceptance

Behavior therapy

therapy that uses learning principles to reduce unwanted behaviors and increase desirable behaviors

Counterconditioning

behavior therapy procedures that use classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors; include exposure therapies and aversive conditioning

Exposure therapies

behavioral techniques that treat anxieties by exposing people (in imaginary or actual situations) to the things they fear and avoid

Systematic desensitization

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

Virtual reality exposure therapy

a counterconditioning technique that treats anxiety through creative electronic simulations in which people can safely face specific fears, such as flying, spiders, or public speaking

Aversive conditioning

associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol)

Token economy

an operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token for exhibiting a desired behavior and can later exchange tokens for privileges or treats

Cognitive therapy

therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)

a popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior)

Group therapy

therapy conducted with groups rather than individuals, providing benefits from group interaction

Family therapy

therapy that treats people in the context of their family system. Views an individual’s unwanted behaviors as influenced by, or directed at, other family members