Week 10 | Day 3 | PSYA02

*Continuing from last lecture

3. Behavioural Therapy

• Behavioural and cognitive therapies are the most common type of psychotherapy in Canada (lots of research that it’s effective)
• Behavioural/cognitive therapy relies on behaviourism

Behaviourism: study of observable, measurable variables

• Focuses on changing behaviour (action) or cognition (thoughts) to combat mental illness.
• Behavioural therapy mostly centres around conditioning

Operant Conditioning: rewards for positive behaviours; punishments for negative behaviour

• One method is token economy (using an object to reinforce a good behaviour)

Classical Conditioning: neutral stimulus is associated with meaningful stimulus

• One type is exposure therapy (harmless, repeated exposure to a “threatening” stimulus that causes a reduction in threat response because it’s a normal for them now)

4. Cognitive Therapy

• Behaviour therapy → change actions
• Cognitive therapy → change unhealthy thought patterns
• Cognitive therapists focus on restructuring of irrational, negative thought process to rational, positive ones
  • A therapeutic approach that teachers clients to question the automatic beliefs, assumptions, and predictions that lead to negative emotions
    • Eg. “I will never be able to make friends”
      • What friends have you have in the past? When/where?
    • Eg. “I will never be able to succeed in school”
      • What successes have you had in the past? Where? When?

Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy

• Most common psychological treatment for depression and anxiety
• CBT is considered:
  • Problem-focused (short term, action-oriented)
    • Eg. let’s target the feeling that you’re bad at school
  • Action-oriented
  • Transparent (unlike psychanalysis)

ABC Model:

• A: Activating event
  • Actual event
  • Client’s immediate interpretation of event
    • Eg. failing an exam
• B: Beliefs
  • Evaluations
  • Rational
  • Irrational
    • Eg. believing that you have to be successful in everything
• C: Consequences
  • Emotions
  • Behaviours
  • Other thoughts
    • Eg. felt ashamed, embarrassed, and wanted to drop out of uni

— New lecture —

Biological Treatment

• Consists of:
  • Medications (anto-psychotic, anti-anxiety, herbal/natural products)
  • Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
  • Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
  • Psychosurgery (destruction/repair of specific brain areas)

Anti-Psychotic Medication

• Originally an accident
• Chlorpromazine was developed in Frace as an allergy medication
  • Made patients sleepy & blocked dopamine receptors
  • Resulted in euphoric calm patients instead of agitated patients but had significant side effects
  • Introduction of these anti-psychotic medications changed the way that schizophrenia is treated

Anti-Anxiety Medication

• Benzodiazepines is an anti-anxiety medication
  • Facilitate GABA neurotransmitter activity → inhibit anxiety
  • Drawbacks are: drug tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, drowsiness, poor coordination

Anti-Depressant Medication

• Also originally an accident
• Monoamine oxidase inhibitors used to treat tuberculosis in 1950s also elevated patients’ mood
  • Prevented breakdown of serotonin and dopamine
  • Had intolerable side effects