Chapter 16: Therapy Flashcards
psychotherapy
treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve a 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
Sigmund Freud’s therapeutic technique. Freud believed the patient’s free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences - and therapist’s interpretations of them - released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight
resistance
in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material
interpretation
in psychoanalysis, the analyst’s noting supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviours and events in order to promote insight
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
a variety of therapies that aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing a person’s awareness of underlying motives and defenses
client-centered therapy
a humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate client’s growth (also called person-centered therapy)
active listening
empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature of Roger’s client-centered therapy
unconditional positive regard
a caring, accepting, nonjudgemental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients develop self-awareness and self-acceptance
behaviour therapy
therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviours
counterconditioning
behaviour therapy procedures that use classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviours; include exposure therapies and aversive conditioning
exposure therapies
behavioural techniques, such as systematic desensitization and virtual reality exposure therapy, that treat anxieties by exposing people (in imaginative 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 phobias
Virtual reality exposure therapy
an anxiety treatment that progressively exposes people to electronic simulations of their greatest fears, such as airplane flying, spiders, or public speaking
aversive conditioning
a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behaviour (such as drinking alcohol)
token economy
an operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token of some sort for exhibiting a desired behaviour and can later exchange their tokens for various 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 behavioural therapy (CBT)
a popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behaviour therapy (changing behaviour)
group therapy
therapy conducted with groups rather than individuals, permitting therapeutic benefits from group interaction
family therapy
therapy that treats the family as a system. Views an individual’s unwanted behaviours as influenced by, or directed at, other family members
meta-analysis
a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies
Evidence-based practice
clinical decision making that integrates the best available research with clinical expertise and patient characteristics and preferences
therapeutic alliance
a bond of trust and mutual understanding between a therapist and client, who work together constructively to overcome the client’s problem
psychopharmacology
the study of the effects of drugs on mind and behaviour
antipsychotic drugs
drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other forms of severe thought disorder
antianxiety drugs
drugs used to control anxiety and agitation
antidepressant drugs
drugs used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post traumatic stress disorder. (several widely used antidepressant drugs are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors - SSRIs)
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient
repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)
the application of repeated pulses of magnetic energy to the brain; used to stimulate or suppress brain activity
psychosurgery
surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behaviour
lobotomy
a psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients. The procedure cut the nerves connecting the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centres of the inner brain
resilience
the personal strength that helps most people cope with stress and recover from adversity and even trauma
posttraumatic growth
positive psychological changes as a result of struggling with extremely challenging circumstances and life crises
How do psychotherapy and the biomedical therapies differ?
- psychotherapy: treatment involving psychological techniques
- biomedical therapy: treats psychological disorders with medications or procedures that act on a person’s physiology
What are the goals and techniques of psychoanalysis, and how have they been adapted in psychodynamic therapy?
- to give self-insight and relief from disorders by bringing anxiety-laden feelings and thoughts into conscious awareness
- psychodynamic therapy doesn’t believe in ego, id, or superego. it is briefer, less expensive, and more focused on helping clients find relief from current symptoms
- PDT helps clients understand how past relationships create themes that may be acted out in current relationship
What are the basic themes of humanistic therapy? What are the specific goals and techniques of Rogers’ client centered approach?
- insight therapies; self-awareness and self-acceptance
- therapist’s most important contributions are to function as a mirror through active listening and to provide a growth-fostering environment of unconditional positive regard
How does the basic assumption of behaviour therapy differ from the assumptions of psychodynamic and humanistic therapies? What techniques are used in exposure therapies and aversive conditioning?
- behaviour therapies are not insight therapies; they apply learning principles to modify behaviour problems
- classical conditioning techniques (exposure therapy: systematic desensitization, virtual reality exposure) and aversive condition work through counterconditioning
what is the main premise of therapy based on operant conditioning principles, and what are the views of its proponents and critics?
- voluntary behaviours are strongly influenced by their consequences
- critics believe that techniques such as those used in token economies may produce temporary behaviour changes and that deciding which behaviours should change is authoritarian and unethical
- proponents argue that treatments with positive reward is more human than punishment or institutionalization
What are the goals and techniques of cognitive therapy and of cognitive-behavioural therapy?
- cognitive therapy: assume that our thinking influences our feelings, and that the therapist’s role is to change self-defeating thinking
- cognitive-behavioural therapy: combines the two kinds by helping clients regularly act out their new ways of thinking/talking in everyday life
What are the aims and benefits of group and family therapy?
- group therapy: less cost per person, help more people, develop social skills, learning from others that have similar problems
- family therapy: family is an interactive system and attempts to help members discover the roles they play and to communicate more openly and directly
Does psychotherapy work? How can we know?
- cannot prove that it works
- placebo effect makes it difficult to judge whether improvement occurred because of treatment
- meta-analysis has shown that those without treatment also improve, but those with psychotherapy improve more quickly with less chance of relapse
Are some psychotherapies more effective than others for specific disorders?
- therapy is most effective for those with clear-cut, specific problems
- behaviour condition: more effective for specific disorders (BUT WHAT DISORDERS MAN??? LIKE THANKS FOR THAT CLARIFICATION)
- psychodynamic therapy: depression, anxiety
- cognitive, behavioural-cognitive: anxiety, PTSD, depression
How do alternative therapies fare under scientific scrutiny?
- eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) has shown some effectiveness, due to its exposure therapy nature
- light exposure therapy seems to relieve depression
What three elements are shared by all forms of psychotherapy?
- hope for demoralized people
- a new perspective leading to new behaviours
- an empathic, trusting, caring relationship
How do culture and values influence the therapist-client relationship?
- values influence goals in therapy and views of progress
- may create problems if they differ
What should a person look for when selecting a therapist?
- treatment approach, credentials, fees, feels comfortable, able to establish a bond
What are the drug therapies? How do double-blind studies help researchers evaluate a drug’s effectiveness?
- psychopharmacology: study of drug effects on mind and behaviour
- antipsychotic drugs, antianxiety, antidepressant
- antidepressants: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI)
- lithium and depakote are mood stabilizers for BPD
- double-blind is to avoid placebo effect and researchers bias
How are brain stimulation and psychosurgery used in treating specific disorders?
- electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is used to treat severely depressed people who have not responded to other treatments
- repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and ‘deep brain stimulation that calms overactive brain regions linked with negative emotion’ also treat depression
- psychosurgery removes or destroys brain tissue in hopes of modifying behaviour
- lobotomy, brain surgery, is irreversible
How, by taking care of themselves with a healthy lifestyle, might people find some relief from depression? How does this reflect our being biopsychosocial systems?
- stress affects our body chemistry and health, which can cause imbalances. these imbalances can be alleviated by social support or lifestyle changes
What is the rationale for preventative mental health programs, and why is it important to develop resilience?
- based on the idea that many disorders could be prevented by changing oppressive, esteem-destroying environments into more benevolent, nurturing ones that foster growth, self-confidence, and resilience
side effects of drug therapies?
- Antipsychotic: tardive dyskinesia, increased risk of obesity and diabetes
- Antianxiety: physically and psychologically addictive
steps to active listening
1) paraphrase (no “I know how you feel”) check your understanding by repeating it back to them
2) invite clarification: what might be an example of that?
3) reflect feelings: it sounds frustrating
stress inoculation training
teaching people how to handle their stress and restructure their thinking
