LCT15: Psychological Treatment Flashcards
The history of psychotherapy has been…
unsuccessful and often horrifying
Psychotherapy
the generic name given to formal psychological treatment
Biological Therapies
treatment based on medical approaches to illness and disease
Psychopharmacology
the study and use of medications that affect brain or body functions
How many psychological therapies are currently available?
over 400
What is the goal of psychodynamic therapy?
to increase insight, or awareness of psychological processes that affect functioning
Who developed psychoanalysis?
Sigmund Freud
What did Sigmund Freud believe about psychodynamic therapy?
believed unconscious feelings and drives gave rise to maladaptive thoughts and behaviors
What techniques were used i psychoanalysis?
free association, dream analysis, and interpretations from the analyst
What modified techniques are being used by psychodynamic therapies?
briefer, less intense, more flexible
- key elements: insight, transference
identifying recurrent, problematic patterns
Humanistic Therapy
emphasizes clients own subjective (personal) experience, free will, belief systems, and personal growth
What is the goal of humanistic therapy?
to treat the person as a whole
Client-Centered Therapy
aka: "person-centered" or "nondirective" Key Elements: - creating a safe and comforting setting - empathy - unconditional positive regard
Reflective Listening (or speech)
repeating clients’ statements and seeking clarification
Psychologist behind client-centered therapy?
Carl Rogers
Behavioral Therapy
uses principles of learning and conditioning to change behavior
Exposure
repeatedly facing feared stimulus
Systematic Desensitization
teaches relaxation during increasingly anxiety-producing situations
Cognitive Therapy
tries to teach people to think in more adaptive ways
Cognitive Restructuring
changing maladaptive thought patterns to more realistic ways of thinking
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
combines techniques from both cognitive and behavioral therapies to correct faulty thinking and change maladaptive behaviors
- short-term and focused on concrete problems
- usually business-like or didactic (like a teacher-student relationship)
Group Therapy
simultaneous treatment of several clients in a group setting
What does group therapy do?
- builds social support
- less expensive than individual therapy
- offers the opportunity for practice of social skills and peer learning
- addresses the importance of shared experiences
Family Therapy
emphasizes the context of the problem
Family Systems Perspective
that individuals cannot be understood in isolation from one another, but rather as a part of their family, as the family is an emotional unit.
Psychotropic Medications
drugs that affect mental processes
The use of psychotropic medication is based on…
the biological or medical model, which views psychological problems as diseases that can be treated medically
Most psychotropic medications fall into what three categories?
1) Anti-anxiety medications (tranquilizers)
2) Antidepressant medications (and mood stabilizers)
3) Antipsychotic medications
Anti-anxiety medications
reduce anxiety and promote relaxation, but also induce drowsiness and highly addictive
- should be used sparingly
Antidepressant medications
intended to regulate mood: for mood disorders and anxiety disorders
Three main classes of antidepressants
1) MAOIs
2) Tricyclic Antidepressants
3) SSRIs
MAOIs
class of antidepressants that work by inhibiting the enzyme monoamine oxidase in the brain, which is responsible for breaking down neurotransmitters such as serotonin - increased amounts of these neurotransmitters help to stabilize mood and reduce anxiety.
Tricyclic Antidepressants
textbook
SSRIs
textbook
- most common –> newest classes
ssRI = re-uptake inhibitors
(look at diagram in book)
Controversies with Antidepressants
- when SSRIs were introduced, the proportion of individuals using antidepressants doubled within 10 years, growing from 37% to 74%
- SSRIs may increase suicidality, particularly among children and adolescents
- for mild to moderate depression, medication may be no more effective than a placebo (now several very good studies)
Antipsychotics
- block the affects of dopamine
- not always effective
- significant side effects than can be irreversible (ex. tardive dyskinesia)
- neuroleptics (older) and atypical antipsychotics (newer) - atypical have fewer side affects, but still serous
Tardive dyskinesia
a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary movements of the face and jaw
Alternative Biological Treatments
usually used as last resorts because they are more likely to have serious side affects than either psychotherapy or medication
Four Alternative Biological Treatments
1) Psychosurgery
2) Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
3) Deep Brain Stimulation
4) Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) - see textbook
Psychosurgery
the removal of parts of the brain (usually the frontal lobes) to treat psychological disorders - one of the earliest formal procedures used for severe mental illness
Lobotomies
(not used today)
prefrontal lobotomies were used to treat severe mental disorders, including schizophrenia, major depression, and anxiety disorders
What happened to patients who received prefrontal lobotomies?
- the procedure often impaired many important mental functions, such as abstract thought, planning, motivation, and social interaction
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)
common in the 1950s and 1960s to treat mental disorders including schizophrenia and depression
- occurs under anesthesia with powerful muscle relaxants
- particularly effective for some cases of severe depression although there are some risks to its use
Deep Brain Stimulation
- newer technology that may be promising
- especially in relation to Major Depression and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Psychotherapy - consumer reports
86% felt they were improved after psychotherapy
89% were satisfied with their experience
Psychotherapy - Seligman (1996)
people rated their mental health practitioners as more effective for treating their mental health problems than family doctors
Major problem with self-reports
bias - people are motivated to believe that their efforts were successful –> also regression to the mean (things just get better)
To use psychotherapy you must have…
1) Randomized, controlled trials
2) Meta-analysos
Randomized, controlled trials
research that randomly assigns patients to either treatment or control group
Meta-Analysis
research that analyzes many studies on the same topic
Debriefing
including encouraging people to describe their experiences following major ttrauma
D.A.R.E.
having police officers run drug education programs
Specific approach for - Anxiety Disorder
Cognitive-Behavioral treatment
Specific approach for - Bipolar Disorder
Pharmacological treatment (lithium)
Specific approach for - Schizophrenia
Pharmacological treatment with Psychosocial treatment
Specific approach for - Borderline Personality Disorder
Psychotherapy
For many psychological problems…
a combination of approaches, or integrative therapy, appears to work best
