Clinical Psychology Flashcards
Similarities in psychodynamic psychotherapies
Human behavior is motivated largely through unconscious processes
Early development has a profound impact on functioning
Universal principles explain personality development
Insight into unconscious processes is key for psychotherapy
Types of psychodynamic psychotherapies
Freudian psychoanalysis
Adler’s individual psychology
Jung’s analytical psychotherapy
Object-relations
Freud’s Personality Theory is comprised of what two subtheories
Structural (drive) theory
Developmental theory
Freud’s structural (drive) theory
Id, ego, superego
Id - present at birth, life and death instincts, operates on pleasure principle
Ego - develops at 6mo, moderates conflict between id and reality (to-be superego), operates on reality principle
Superego - develops 4-5yo, internalization of society’s values learned through rewards and punishment as a child
Freud’s developmental theory
Emphasizes sexual drives of the id.
Personality is based on your navigation of five psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital).
Over- or under-stimulation is related to a certain personality outcome
Freudian anxiety
Anxiety is a warning to the ego of an impending threat
When the ego cannot rationally defend off the threat, defense mechanisms are utilized
Are defense mechanisms good or bad
Can be adaptive, but when they become the ego’s default way of managing conflict, they can lead to dysfunction
Types of defense mechanisms
Repression (most basic) - keeps ids drives and needs unconscious
Reaction formation - avoiding an anxiety-provoking impulse by expressing its opposite
Projection - when a threatening impulse is attributed to someone else
Commonalities among defense mechanisms
They are unconscious
Serve to deny or distort reality
Psychoanalytic theory of dysfunction
Stems from unconscious and unresolved conflict
Phobia - displacement of anx onto a symbolic object
Depression - object loss coupled with anger toward the object turned inward
Mania - defense against libidinal or aggressive urges that threaten to overwhelm the ego
Goals of psychoanalytic therapy
Make the unconscious conscious
Integrate previously repressed material into the personality
Psychoanalytic treatment techniques
Primary: analysis of free association, dreams, transference…
Three components of psychoanalytic analysis
Confrontation - making statements to help the client see their behavior in a new way
Clarification - clarifying feelings and restating their remarks in clearer terms
Interpretation - connecting current behavior to unconscious processes
Psychoanalysis has been improved through what three techniques
Catharsis - emotional release resulting from the recall of unconscious material
Insight - into relationship btwn unconscious and current behaviors
Working through - assimilate new insights into his or her personality
Approach adopted by Adler
Teleological approach - behavior is largely guided by a person’s future goals
(Rather than determined by past events)
Teleological Approach
Developed by Adler
A persons behavior is motivated by future goals
Rather than determined by past events
Personality theory of Adler’s Individual Psychology
How you choose to compensate for feelings of superiority (and work towards superiority) determines your style of life (personality)
Style of Life
Adler’s Individual Psychology
- How you work to achieve superiority
Healthy - goals that reflect optimism and care for others
Unhealthy (mistaken) - goals that reflect personal achievement and power
Around what age does your Style of Life develop
Fairly well established by 4-5 years of age
Healthy Style of Life
Adler’s Individual Psychology
Marked by goals that reflect optimism, confidence, and concern for the welfare of others
Unhealthy (mistaken) Style of Life
Characterized by goals reflecting self-centeredness, competitiveness, and striving for personal power
Adler’s view on maladaptive behavior
Mental disorders represent a mistaken style of life and maladaptive ways to compensating with inferiority
- Preoccupation with power
- Disregard for social interest
Adlerian Lifestyle Investigation
Used to identify the clients style of life
Yields information about a clients family constellation, hidden (fictional) goals, and distorted beliefs and attitudes (basic mistakes)
Goals of Adlerian psychotherapy
Help the client understand their style of life and it’s consequences
Reorient beliefs and goals to support a more adaptive lifestyle
Therapeutic techniques in Adler’s Individual Psychology
Systematic Training for Effective Teaching (STET)
- all behavior is purposeful and goal-directed
Personality from Jung’s Analytical Psychotherapy
Personality is the consequence of conscious and unconscious factors
Conscious - governed by the ego - your thoughts, feelings, ideas, sensory perceptions, and memories
Unconscious - personal unconscious and collective unconscious
Jung’s “Conscious”
Governed by the ego
Represents the individuals thoughts, feelings, sensory perceptions, ideas, and memories
Jung’s unconscious
Personal unconscious - experiences that were unconsciously perceived, or were once conscious that are now repressed
Collective unconscious - latent memory traces that have been passed down generationally (includes archetypes)
Personal unconscious
Jung’s Analytical Psychotherapy
Experiences that were unconsciously perceived, or were once conscious and now repressed
Collective unconscious
Jung’s Analytical Psychotherapy
Latent memory traces that were passed down generationally
(Includes archetypes)
Archetypes
Jung’s Analytical Psychotherapy
Primordial images that cause people to experience and understand certain phenomena in a universal way
Types of archetypes
Persona - public image
Shadow - the “dark side” of the personality
Anima/animus - feminine and masculine aspects of the personality
Jung’s personality theory consisted of two attitudes
Introversion and extroversion
Basic tenant to Jung’s Analytical Psychotherapy
Behavior is determined by BOTH past events and future goals and aspirations
Individuation
Jung’s Analytical Psychotherapy
The integration of your unconscious and conscious psyche that lead to the development of a unique identity (occurs in your mid 30s)
An important outcome of individuation is the development of wisdom (when a persons interests turn towards philosophical and spiritual issues)
View of maladaptive behaviors through Jung’s perspective
Symptoms are unconscious signals to the person that something is wrong with him… He will be presented with a task developmentally that will need to be fulfilled
Goals of therapy per Jung’s Analytical Psychotherapy
Bridge the gaps between your personal unconscious, collective unconscious, and conscious experience
Jungian therapy techniques
Interpretations
Dreamwork
Focus on transference
Emphasizes positive and healthy aspects of a persons personality
Basic tenant of Object-Relations Theory
Object-seeking (forming relationships) is a basic inborn drive
Introjects
Object Relations Theory
Child’s early internalized representations of objects
Early Object Relations psychologists
Klein
Kernberg
Mahler
Fairbain
Object Relations approach to personality
[Mahler]
Infant normative autism - focused on self and oblivious to environment
Normal symbiotic phase - child becomes aware of mom
Separation-individuation phase - child begins to explore environment, conflicts between independence and dependence (separation anxiety)
By 3-4 yo, child has a permanent sense of self and objects
Object Relations perspective on maladaptive behavior
Result of abnormalities in early object relations
[Mahler] Issues occurs during separation-individuation phase
There is a natural tendency to split things into “good” and “bad”
[Kernberg] BPD persons never fully integrated positive and negative aspects of their experiences with others, resulting in shifts between contradictory ideas
Object Relations therapeutic principles
Primary focus is on splitting
Restore clients ability to relate to others in meaningful ways
Replace dysfunctional object relations with functional ones
Similarities in Humanistic and Constructivist Psychotherapies
To understand someone, you must understand their subjective experience
Focus on current behaviors
Belief in the individual’s inherent potential
Therapy is authentic and collaborative
Rejection of assessment and diagnostic labels
Types of Humanistic and Constructivist Threapies
Person-Centered Therapy Gestalt Therapy Existential Therapy Reality Therapy Personal Construct Therapy
Psychologist associated with Person-Centered Therapy
Carl Rogers
Basis for Person-Centered Therapy
Everyone has an inherent self-actualizing tendency that serves as a major motivator towards positive, healthy growth
Person-Centered personality theory
A function of the “self” or a unified, whole person who is consistent in their relationships with others
Person-Centered view of maladaptive behaviors
Incongruence between self and experience leads to a disorganized sense of self
Incongruence = anxiety that signals the unified self is being threatened
How can a person alleviate anxiety in a Person-Centered framework
Defensive maneuvers of perceptual distortion or denial.
May be temporarily effective, but counter self-actualization
Goals of Person-Centered Therapy
Help client achieve congruence between the self and experience, so that they can become self-actualized
Conditions for Rogerian therapy
When the right environment is provided by the therapist, the client will achieve congruence (and will be carried by their own inherent tendency towards self-actualization)
Three facilitative conditions of Rogerian (Person-Centered) Therapy
Unconditional positive regard (respect) - genuinely care, affirm their worth as a person, no overt judgement of client (+ or -)
Genuineness (congruence) - honestly communicate your feelings when appropriate
Accurate empathetic understanding - see the world as the client sees it (nodding, maintaining eye contact, reflection of feeling)
Unconditional positive regard
Rogerian, Person Centered Therapy
Aka respect
Genuinely caring for the client, affirming their worth as a person, no positive or negative judgements of the client
Genuineness
Rogerian (Person Centered) Therapy
Aka genuineness
Communicating your feelings openly and honestly to the client when appropriate…authenticity
Accurate Empathetic Understanding
Rogerian (Person-Centered) Therapy
Seeing the world as the client sees it
Eye contact, nodding, reflection of feelings
Things to avoid in Person-Centered Therapy
Directive techniques
Diagnosis
Being in an authoritative roll
Don’t use transference…it’s neither interpreted nor fostered
Psychologist associated with Gestalt Therapy
Fritz Perls
Basis of Gestalt Therapy
Each person is capable of assuming responsibility for their thoughts, feelings, and actions to live as a “whole”
Foundational schools of thought for Gestalt Therapy
Existentialism
Psychoanalysis
Phenomenology
Gestalt Psychology (focuses on perception)
Gestalt personality theory
The personality consists of the self and the self image
Self - creative part of personality that works towards self-actualization
Self-image - “dark side” that hinders growth, imposes external standards
The part of the personality that dominates depends on early development experiences (appropriate support yields a stronger self)
Gestalt view of maladaptive behavior
Neurotic behavior is a growth disorder wherein you reject the self for the self-image (resulting in a lack of integration)
Results in a boundary disturbance between the self and the environment
Four boundary disturbances in Gestalt Therapy
Introjection - when a person psychologically swallows whole concepts (accepts facts from env without fully assimilating them)
Projection - disowning aspects of the self by assigning them to another person
Retroflection - doing to oneself what you want to do to others
Confluence - no boundary between self and env (intolerant of differences between self and others…guilt and resentment)
Therapy goal of Gestalt
Help client become a unified whole by integrating various aspects of the self
Therapy techniques of Gestalt Therapy
Primary curative factor is awareness
Full understanding of one’s thoughts, feelings, and actions in the here-and-now
Empty chair, guided fantasy (imagery…visualization), and dreamwork
Foundation of Existential Therapy
Emphasize personal choice and responsibility for developing a meaningful life
(We are in a constant state of evolving and becoming)
Existential Therapy view of maladaptive behavior
Maladaptive behavior is the result of an inability to cope with concerns of existence (death, freedom, meaninglessness)
Existential anxiety (normal) v neurotic anxiety (attempts to avoid existential anxiety)
Existential Anxiety
Existential Therapy
Considered a normal response to ultimate concerns that serves as a motivator for change and growth
Neurotic Anxiety
Existential Therapy
The result of attempts to avoid existential anxiety - it is often out of proportion to the situation that started it, unconscious, and immobilizing
Therapy goals and techniques for Existential Therapy
Help clients recognize their freedom to choose their own destinies and accept responsibility for changing their own life
No specific interventions, but the client-therapist relationship is seen as the most important thing!
Paradoxical intention requires the client to focus on an exaggerated and humorous notion of the feared situation
Paradoxical Intention
Existential Therapy
To reduce a clients fear
Requires the client to focus in an exaggerated or humorous way on the feared situation
Psychologist associated with Reality Therapy
William Glasser
Basis for Reality Therapy
Based on choice theory
Assumes people are responsible for the choices they make and focuses on how they make choices that affect the course of their lives
Personality theory according to Reality Therapy
Five basic needs serve as our motivation: belonging/love, freedom, fun, power, and survival (love is most important because relationships help us to fulfill all other needs)
If you fulfill your needs in a positive way, you adopt a success identity
If you fulfill your needs in irresponsible ways, you adopt a failure identity
Reality Therapy’s view on maladaptive behavior
Result of adopting a failure identity
(Mental illness is the result of an individual’s choices)
Ex. Depressed because you choose to depress yourself to fulfill a need (obtain attention)
Primary goal of Reality Therapy
Help clients identify responsible and and effective ways to meet their needs and develop a success identity
Psychologist associated with Personal Construct Therapy
George Kelly
Basis for Personal Construct Therapy
People choose the way they deal with he world, and there are always alternative ways for doing so
Personal Construct personality theory
Psychological processes are governed by how you construe events
Personal constructs = bipolar dimensions of meaning (happy/sad, friendly/unfriendly)
Personal Constructs
George Kelly’s Personal Construct Therapy
Personal constructs are bipolar dimensions of meaning
(Happy/sad, friendly/unfriendly, competent/incompetent)
Develop in infancy and operate consciously or unconsciously
No two people have the same constructs, and we act s scientists to alter and revise the constructs that we have
Personal Construct perspective on maladaptive behavior
Result of inadequate personal constructs
Anxiety - when you don’t have the construct in place to help you deal with a new situation
Hostility - when you rely on old constructs despite invalidating evidence, trying to force people or things in to fit those constructs
Therapy techniques in Personal Construct Therapy
Repertory grid - identify people who have played a role in your life
Self-characterization sketch - describes self from the perspective of someone who knows them well
Fixed-role Therapy - help clients try on or adopt new personal constructs
Commonalities among brief therapies
Time limited (6-30 sessions)
Focus on current concerns, rather than on the past
Therapist takes an active role, and encourages the client to become an active member in the change process
Types of Brief Therapy
Interpersonal Therapy
Solution-Focused Therapy
Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change)
Motivational Interviewing
Psychologists who created Interpersonal Therapy
Klerman and Weissman
Origins of Interpersonal Therapy
(IPT - Brief Therapy)
Used to treat depression, now used for other things
Interpersonal Therapy view of maladaptive behaviors
Distress and maladaptive behavior stems from problems in social roles and interpersonal relationships, traceable back to a lack of strong attachments in early life.
Goals of Interpersonal Therapy
Symptom reduction and improved interpersonal functioning
Focus on current social relationships (rooted in early attachment, but focused on current relationships)
Interpersonal Therapy techniques
Focus on one of four problem areas:
Unresolved grief, interpersonal deficits, interpersonal role disputes, role transitions
Three stages: (1) therapist conducts assessment to obtain dx, context for deficits, problem areas (2) target problem areas with specific strategies (encouragement of affect, communication analysis, modeling, role-playing), (3) reviews progress, discuss termination, plan to avoid relapse
Four problem areas in Interpersonal Therapy
Unresolved grief
Interpersonal deficits
Interpersonal role disputes
Role transition
Three stages of Interpersonal Therapy treatment
1 - conduct an assessment to obtain a dx, gain context for interpersonal struggles, and identify problem areas
2 - use specific strategies (encouragement of affect, communication analysis, modeling, role play)
3 - review client progress, discuss termination, methods of relapse prevention
Basis of Solution-Focused Therapy
Focuses on solutions to the clients problems and not on the problems themselves
Solution-Focused Therapy view on maladaptive behavior
The etiology or maladaptive behavior (or personality) is irrelevant
Stay solution-focused
Overarching therapeutic approach in Solution-Focused Therapy
The client is the expert and the psychologist acts as the collaborator who’s job it is to pose questions designed to help the recognize their strengths to achieve goals
Three questions used in Solution-Focused Therapy
Miracle Question - when you wake up in the morning, how would things be different
Exception Question - can you think of a time when you did not have this issue or didn’t have it as bad
Scaling Question - on a scale from 1-10…
Miracle Question
Solution-Focused Therapy
If you woke up tomorrow, how would things be different
Exception Question
Solution-Focused Therapy
Can you think of a time when you did not have this issue, or when it wasn’t as bad
Scaling Question
Solution-Focused Therapy
On a scale of 1-10…
- how motivated are you
- how did you feel last week
- etc.
Basis of Transtheoretical Model
(Aka stages of change)
Change entails progress through a series of predictable stages
Ten empirically supported change processes (interventions) in the Transtheoretical Model
Consciousness raising Self liberation Social liberation Dramatic relief Self-reevaluation Counterconditioning Environmental reevaluation Reinforcement management Stimulus control Helping/supportive relationships
Transtheoretical view if maladaptive behaviors
Doesn’t have one. Focuses instead on factors that facilitate behavior change
Six stages of change in Transtheoretical Model
Precontemplation - no insight, denial, little interest to change
Contemplation - aware of need for change, not committed, ambivalent…plans to take axn within six months
Preparation - plans to take axn in the next month, realistic plan for action
Action - takes concrete steps to change, maybe a public commitment
Maintenance - maintained change in behavior for at least six months, taking steps to prevent relapse
Termination - feels they can resist temptation, confident no risk for relapse
Precontemplation stage
Stages of Change/Transtheoretical Model
Individual has little insight into the problem, has no desire to change, denial of any problems
Contemplation Stage
Stages of Change/Transtheoretical Model
Aware of need for change, ambivalent, not committed yet, plans to commit within six months
Preparation Stage
Stages of Change/Transtheoretical Model
Plans to take action within a month, has a plan for action
Action Stage
Stages of Change/Transtheoretical Model
Taking concrete steps to change the behavior, usually begins with a public commitment to change
Maintenance Stage
Stages of Change/Transtheoretical Model
Has maintained change for at least six months, working towards ways to prevent relapse
Termination Stage
Stages of Change/Transtheoretical Model
Person feels they can resist temptation and is confident they are no longer at risk for relapse
Assumption of the Stages of Change/Transtheoretical Model
Progression through the stages is not necessarily linear
People may go through some or all of the stages several times
Interventions are most effective when they match the person’s stage of change
Transtheoretical Model techniques for helping someone transition from precontemplation to contemplation stage
Consciousness raising
Dramatic relief
Environmental reevaluation
Transtheoretical Model approaches for helping clients transition from the action to maintenance stage
Helping relationships, counterconditioning, reinforcement management, stimulus control
Meditating variables for change
Decisional balance - strength of the perceived pros and cons to change (important for motivation in contemplation stage)
Self-efficacy - clients confidence that they can manage situations without relapsing (important for contemplation to preparation to action stages)
Temptation - intensity of the urges to engage in the problem behavior (high in initial stages, but decreases as you go through stages)
Decisional Balance
Stages of Change
Strength of the pros and cons to changing a behavior
Serves as an important motivator in the contemplation stage
Self-Efficacy
Stages of Change
Clients confidence that they can cope with high-risk situations without relapsing
Contributor your ability to move from contemplation to preparation to action stages
Temptation
Stages of Change
Refers to the intensity of the urges to engage in the problem behavior
Inversely related to self-efficacy
Usually high in the early stages, but lowers as you progress through
Basis for Motivational Interviewing
Developed for clients who were ambivalent
Deals with their beliefs about their ability to change