PSYC 508: Counseling and Personality Theories Flashcards
Automatic Thoughts
Coined by Beck, automatic thoughts are internal spontaneous thoughts, that happen unconsciously, that affect our emotions and actions. These thoughts are linked to our core beliefs and schemas about ourselves and are generally triggered by a traumatic event or circumstance.
Authentic Existence
Term coined in existential therapy that describes a person who embraces the reality of who they are and their freedom. This person takes responsibility for their life they want to live but also learns from the mistakes they have made. This is the key component to existential therapy.
Behavioral Activation
Used to be termed (activity scheduling), BA involves working with clients to schedule activities that increase the rate of naturally occurring positive reinforcement. One component used for treating patients with depression. The goal is to have an individual engage in positive activities in hopes they want to repeat these activities frequently.
Big Five Personality Model/Traits
This theory postulates that personality can be broken down into five trait components: (OCEAN) Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Each of these five traits exist on a spectrum and are thought to be relatively stable in each individual over time. Additionally the degree of these traits is greatly influenced by cultural norms.
Client-Centered/Person-Centered Therapy/Theory
A Rogerian theory of personality which asserts that humans have a natural tendency towards growth/change and that negative environmental influences are what disrupt this natural tendency. In person-centered therapy, the therapist approaches the client with unconditional positive regard, empathy, and genuineness as well as serving as a role model for the congruence (harmony) between the real and ideal self. Goal is to achieve self-actualization.
Cognitive Therapy
Developed by Aaron Beck, the therapeutic approach that believes that thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are intertwined. Individuals can move toward overcoming difficulties and meet goals by identifying and changing unhelpful, inaccurate thinking. CT focuses on mechanisms of a problem, and one’s schemas to enact change in maladaptive thinking patterns.
Common Factors in Psychotherapy
Common factors in therapy include four components for therapy to be most effective: developing a strong therapeutic relationship, client factors (including internal and external drivers such as environment), client expectations, and specific therapeutic techniques.
Conditional vs. Unconditional Positive Regard
Terms developed by Rogers to describe whether support and acceptance are given with or without conditions (i.e. does client need to meet X in order to receive Y or do they receive Y regardless of if they meet X). It is believed that unconditional positive regard is more valuable and influential, as opposed to when an individual acquires conditions of worth because they have only ever received conditional positive regard.
Conditions of Worth
A term developed by Rogers to describe standards placed on an individual by society/family/friends that tell the individual that they’re only worthy of love/acceptance when they meet certain guidelines. When conditions of worth are placed on a person, this leads to incongruence and an inauthentic existence and can ultimately lead to psychopathology.
Countertransference
A term developed by Freud that refers to when a therapist projects past feelings/attitudes onto their client, in turn distorting their perception and reaction to the client. Countertransference is not innately bad, however the therapist must work to remain aware of its process in order to avoid damage in the therapeutic work or relationship.
Cultural Self-Awareness
Cultural self-awareness is an individual’s metacognitive understanding of how culture influences the self. It involves self-exploration about one’s own cultural heritage and understanding/valuing the differences of others, without perpetuating one’s own implicit biases. Cultural self-awareness requires a link between the self and how cultural experiences influence behaviors and interactions. Culture is an inescapable component of being human and being able to effectively work with other humans.
Defense Mechanisms
Automatic, unconscious, thoughts, feelings, or actions, that ward off unacceptable impulses associated with internal conflicts that distort of reality.
Externalizing Conversations
A technique in which space is created between the person and the problem. The problem is discussed as something separate from the client as opposed to an innate feature of the client. Clients dissociate from problem, look at them from a distance, and develop strategies for eliminating them.
Factor Analysis
A statistical procedure in which patterns are identified from a correlation matrix. This procedure is used to determine whether the variability among observed variables can be explained by fewer unobservable variable called “factors.” A factor analysis reduces a set of intercorrelations to a small number of descriptive explanatory concepts.
Fixation
A term coined by Freud and used in psychoanalytic theory. In this context, fixation refers to an inappropriate attachment to a mode of psychosexual gratification. When fixation occurs, the individual is “stuck” in this stage of psychosexual development until the fixation is resolved. This term can also refer to an obsessive preoccupation with a single idea or impulse.
Genogram
A diagrammatic representation of a family that includes individual histories of illness/death and also incorporates aspects of the interpersonal relationships between family members.
Insight/Catharsis
This term was originally coined by Freud and used within psychoanalytic theory. Insight referred to the awareness of one’s own internal processes such as emotions and motivations. Catharsis referred to a release of emotions that occurred when emotions/thoughts moved from the unconscious into the conscious.