18 Treatments of Psychological Disorders: Abnormal Behavior and Therapies (FROM BARRONS)

Patients

Psychologists with a biomedical orientation generally refer to the people who come to them for help as patients.

Clients

Other therapists, humanistic therapists in particular, prefer the term clients

Psychodynamic therapy

• a type of talk therapy that explores the unconscious mind and its influence on behavior, emotions, and relationships

• grew out of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic approach

• therapeutic technique developed by Sigmund Freud

• A patient undergoing traditional psychoanalysis will usually lie on a couch while the therapist sits in a chair out of the patient’s line of vision.

• Psychodynamic theorists view the cause of disorders as unconscious conflicts. As a result, their focus is on identifying the underlying cause of the problem. Psychodynamic clinicians believe that other methods of therapy may succeed in ridding a client of a particular symptom but do not address the true problem.

• psychoanalysts assert that patients will suffer from symptom substitution. Symptom substitution is when, after a person has been successfully treated for one psychological disorder, that person begins to experience a new psychological problem.

Hypnosis

an altered state of consciousness

less likely to repress troubling thoughts and can even recover childhood memories about early trauma

research has supported only the ability of hypnosis to aid in pain control and decrease anxiety.

Free associate

to say whatever comes to mind without thinking

Dream interpretation

ask their patients to describe their dreams.

Again, since the ego’s defenses are relaxed during sleep, they hope the dreams will help the therapist see what is at the root of the patient’s problem

Person-centered therapy

also known as client-centered therapy

therapist providing the client with unconditional positive regard

Unconditional positive regard

blanket acceptance and support of a person regardless of what the person says or does.

humanistic therapists seek to help their clients accept and take responsibility for themselves.

Active listening

encourage the clients to talk a lot about how they feel and sometimes mirror back those feelings to help clarify the feelings for the client

Applied behavior analysis (ABA)

• behavioral approach to help people with developmental disorders

• set up systems of reinforcement to help teach their clients how to be successful in the world

Counterconditioning

classical conditioning in which an unpleasant conditioned response is replaced with a pleasant one.

Systematic desensitization

• counterconditioning for anxiety and phobias

• teaching the client to replace the feelings of anxiety with relaxation

• breathing and meditation then construct anxiety of fear hierarchy

Anxiety or fear hierarchy

a rank-ordered list of what the client fears, starting with the least frightening and ending with the most frightening.

Exposure therapies

involve some degree of contact with the feared stimuli

Aversive therapy

pairing a habit a person wishes to break, such as smoking or bed-wetting, with an unpleasant stimulus such as electric shock or nausea.

Token economy

desired behaviors are identified and rewarded with tokens. The tokens can then be exchanged for various objects or privileges.

Cognitive restructuring

• goal of cognitive therapy

• challenging people’s patterns of maladaptive thinking

• therapists challenge the irrational thinking patterns of their clients

Maladaptive thinking

false or irrational beliefs and thought patterns that lead to negative or irrational behaviors and can hinder an individual's well-being

Cognitive triad

people’s beliefs about themselves, their worlds, and their futures.

People suffering from depression often have irrationally negative beliefs about all three of these areas. Cognitive therapy aims to make these beliefs more positive.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

combines cognitive and behavioral psychologists

helps individuals identify and change negative thought patterns and behaviors that contribute to mental health problems

• rational emotive behavior therapy REBT

Rational emotive behavior therapy

• identify self-defeating thoughts and feelings, challenge the nature of irrational and unproductive feelings, and replace them with healthier, more productive beliefs

• expose and confront the dysfunctional thoughts of their clients

• I.e social phobia —> a therapist would question both the likelihood of such embarrassment occurring and the impact that would result

• goal would be to show the client that not only is his or her failure an unlikely occurrence but also that, even if it did occur, it would not be such a big deal.

Psychoactive medications

drugs that affect brain function and alter mood, perception, consciousness, cognition, and behavior

anything that crosses the blood-brain barrier

Psychotropic medications

drugs that affect the brain and nervous system, primarily used to treat mental health conditions

influencing neurotransmitter activity, which can alter mood, behavior, and thought processes. These medications are not a cure, but rather a tool to manage symptoms and improve quality of life

Antipsychotic medications

• for schizophrenia

drugs generally function by blocking the receptor sites for dopamine.

Tardive dyskinesia

Parkinsonian-like, chronic muscle tremors

side effect of antipsychotic medication

Antidepressants

• treat unipolar depression

(MAO inhibitor, tricyclic antidepressants, serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors)

Lithium

treat the manic phase of bipolar disorder.

Antianxiety drugs

treat anxiety disorders (barbiturates, benzodiazepines)

Biofeedback

therapy most commonly used in the treatment of anxiety and depression

patient is taught to recognize and then control various physiological responses such as breathing, heart rate, or even brain activity (neurofeedback) without medication

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

employs magnets to alter brain activity and is mainly used in the treatment of depression.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

• bilateral ECT, electric current is passed through both hemispheres of the brain (more effective, more side effects, memory loss, seizure)

• Unilateral ECT involves running current through only one hemisphere.

• change in the brain’s blood flow patterns.

Psychosurgery

• somatic therapy

• purposeful destruction of part of the brain to alter a person’s behavior

Prefrontal lobotomy

• cutting the main neurons leading to the frontal lobe of the brain

• calmed the behavior of patients, it reduced their level of functioning and awareness to a vegetative state

Respecting people’s rights and dignity

• principles of APA (American psychological association)

Fidelity

• principles of APA (American psychological association)

• loyalty, precision

Cultural humility

• principles of APA (American psychological association)

• self-reflection and self-critique, acknowledging limits and biases, develop inclusive environment

Nonmaleficence

• principles of APA (American psychological association)

• an ethical principle meaning "to do no harm" or "avoid causing harm

Therapeutic alliance

• relationship between client and therapist

• one therapist might not work for you another might work

Evidence-based interventions

• works in research

• might not work every time