PSYC 508: Counseling & Personality Theories

Question 1

Automatic Thoughts

Answer 1

• Term from Beck’s theory of cognitive therapy
• Conditioned, spontaneous (reflexive, habitual) thoughts that appear plausible in response to a particular stimulus
• May consist of dichotomous reasoning (always and never), personalization, and emotional reasoning
• The downward arrow method is used to explore what intermediate and core beliefs underlie automatic thoughts
• May be negative in nature and often serve a purpose of protecting the client in some way
• Generally triggered by life/stressful events
• It is important to identify and explore automatic thoughts, especially negative automatic thoughts, to challenge negative core beliefs and improve a client’s self-image, thus increasing confidence

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Question 2

Authentic Existence

Answer 2

• Humanistic concept used in existential theory
• “Existence precedes essence” meaning your existence (choices, life and how you live it) determines who you are
• As long as a person chooses to live “authentically” there are no moral standards by which his conduct can be criticized
• Awareness/sense of own identity
• They choose experiences that align with their ideal self
• Live in the present; make decisions they are responsible for
• Congruent with thoughts and behaviors
• In the field of psychology, authenticity identifies a person living life in accordance with their true self, personal values, rather than according to external demands of society, such as social conventions, kinship, and duty

Ex: gay therapist choosing to be an advocate in his community for gay rights and counseling those struggling to identify as gay in the community

Question 3

Behavioral Activation

Answer 3

• Developed by Lewinsohn based on Skinner’s behavioral principles
• Type of behavior therapy often used to treat symptoms of depression
• Stems from the behavioral model that conceptualizes depression as a lack of positive reinforcement, and depression being maintained or worsened by isolation behaviors
• This therapy consists of clients scheduling particular activities that are positively reinforcing with the idea that those behaviors may lead to positive psychological and emotional changes as well

Ex: A freshmen student makes an appointment at their college counseling center. The student tells the therapist that they “just don’t have motivation” and that instead of going to class or socializing, the student lays in bed in their dorm. The therapist utilizes behavioral activation therapy by brainstorming how the client could engage on campus in ways that felt tolerable. Some examples may include going to at least one class a day, going to the dining hall a few times a week, or just walking around the dorm building once a day to get outside. The hope is that fighting the isolation behavior will help improve the depressive symptoms.

Tony has recently been feeling very low. He wakes up foggy and can’t seem to motivate himself to get his school work done or to attend to the tasks of daily living. He hasn’t seen his friends in weeks, but not for lack of trying on their part. He thinks resting will help clear the fatigue but the more he rests the worse he feels. His therapist recommends behavioral activation therapy and asks Tony to identify a few activities that bring him joy. He lists seeing his friends, skiing, and reading. His therapist then asks him to schedule time to engage in each of these activities this week. At the end of the week, Tony reports that while it was difficult to schedule and even harder to go to his scheduled activities, he felt lighter and more hopeful afterward.

Question 4

Big Fiver Personality Model/Traits

Answer 4

• Theory that believes personality can be broken down into 5 trait components: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.
• Each trait exists on a spectrum
• Traits thought to be relatively stable in each individual over time
• The degree of these traits is greatly influenced by cultural norms

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Question 5

Client-Centered/Person-Centered Theory/Therapy

Answer 5

• Rogerian theory of personality
• States that humans have natural tendency toward growth/change and 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. They also serve as a role model for congruence between the real and ideal self.

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Question 6

Cognitive Therapy

Answer 6

• Developed by Beck and later Ellis
• Type of therapy that is based on the premise that one’s cognitions directly impacts an individual’s feelings, behaviors and overall functioning
• Believes maladaptive cognitions are the root of psychological suffering
• The goal of Cog therapy is to challenge distorted and maladaptive beliefs to change them to more rational and adaptive thoughts
• Beck believed in challenging the automatic thoughts and testing your hypotheses
• Ellis believed irrational thoughts caused psychopathology
• Used to treat mood disorders

Ex: A client comes into therapy with depression. He has thoughts of “No one likes me”. The therapist employs cognitive therapy to test hypotheses of if these thoughts the client has are true. They refute negative thought of no one likes me after they review evidence of people liking him. They replace these negative thoughts with more positive, adaptive thoughts.

Question 7

Common Factors in Psychotherapy

Answer 7

• Common factors or traits that are necessary characteristics to be an effective therapist
• These factors are warmth, empathy, genuineness, accurate identification of emotions, and the ability to form a strong therapeutic alliance
• Persist regardless of theoretical orientation

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Question 8

Conditional vs Unconditional Positive Regard

Answer 8

• Terms developed by Rogers to describe whether support and acceptance are give with or without conditions
• 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 every received conditional positive regard

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Question 9

Conditions of Worth

Answer 9

• 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 places on a person, this leads to incongruence and an inauthentic existence and can ultimately lead to psychopathology

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Question 10

Countertransference

Answer 10

• Term developed by Freud
• Refers to when a therapist projects past feelings/attitudes onto their client, in turn distorting their perception and reaction to the client
• 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

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Question 11

Cultural Self-Awareness

Answer 11

• An individual’s metacognitive understanding of how culture influences the self
• Involves self-exploration about one’s own cultural heritage and understanding/valuing the differences of others, without perpetuating one’s own implicit biases
• 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

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Question 12

Defense Mechanisms

Answer 12

• Term from Freud’s psychoanalytic theory
• Describes unconscious strategies to cope with unpleasant feelings or situations that the mind has classified as unacceptable
• This process is usually conceptualized as the ego balancing the desired of the id with the restrictions of the superego
• They are not inherently bad because they can allow people to navigate painful experiences, however, overuse of them can be problematic and lead to pathology
• Some of these defense mechanisms are denial, repression, denial and rationalization
• Recognizing when a client is using defense mechanisms can benefit the therapeutic process

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Question 13

Externalizing Conversations

Answer 13

• 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

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Question 14

Existential Theory/Therapy

Answer 14

• Style of therapy that places emphasis on the human condition as a whole
• Embraces personal freedom and choice
• It purports that humans choose their own existence and meaning
• This therapy uses a positive approach that applauds human capacities and aspirations while simultaneously acknowledging human limitations
• Anxiety is seen by existential therapists as being a condition of living, naturally arising from a person’s striving to survive. This is known as ‘existential anxiety’ and is a normal outcome of facing the four ultimate concerns in life: death, freedom, isolation and meaninglessness
• Ultimate goal is authentic existence

Ex: An existential therapist is treating John who is experiencing depression. The therapist helps John create meaning and take ownership of his life and diagnosis. This therapy increases client’s motivation and decreases feelings of helplessness

Question 15

Factor Analysis

Answer 15

• Statistical procedure in which patterns are identified from a correlations matrix
• Used to determine whether the variability among observed variables can be explained by fewer unobservable variables called “factors”
• reduces the set of intercorrelations to a small number of descriptive explanatory concepts
• used in creating personality tests
  -This was used to come up with the 5 main traits in big 5 personality theory

Ex: Researchers find 5,000 traits that make up personality. To reduce this huge number of variable, a factor analysis is used to find commonalities between variables. These 5,000 variables are reduced to 5 factors of personality used in the Big Five Personality Theory.

Question 16

Fixation

Answer 16

• Term coined by Freud and used in psychoanalytic theory
• Refers to an inappropriate attachment to a model of psychosexual gratification
• When this 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

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Question 17

Genogram

Answer 17

• A diagrammatic representation of a family
• Includes individual histories of illness/death
• Incorporates aspects of the interpersonal relationships between family members

Ex: In family therapy, the therapist has the client fill out a genogram. The client fills out the venogram and realizes that the symptoms of depression were present in many members of her family.

Question 18

Insight/Catharsis

Answer 18

• Originally coined by Freud and used within psychoanalytic theory
• Referred to the awareness of one’s own internal processes such as emotions that occurred when emotions/thoughts moved from the unconscious into the conscious

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Question 19

Multicultural Counseling

Answer 19

• Refers to a way of being as opposed to a specific technique
• It is both an appreciation and validation of perspectives and a practice of therapy that aligns with the client’s life experiences and cultural values

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Question 20

Neo-Freudian

Answer 20

• Term that refers to theories that have derived from Freud’s classical psychoanalytic theory
• emphasis sociocultural and personal relationships rather than just innate drives
• Derived theories often include modifications of psychoanalysis and may hold different emphasis that Freud
• Neo-Freudian approaches include the work of Freud’s contemporaries like Adler, Jung, Erickson, etc.
• Neo-freudian plays a role in the development of other theories in psychology

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Question 21

Narrative Therapy

Answer 21

• Treatment that helps individuals reinterpret and rewrite their life events into true but more life-enhancing narratives or stories
• Believes that individuals are primarily meaning-making beings who are the linguistic authors of their lives and therefore can deconstruct and reconstruct life events into more helpful light

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Question 22

Person-Behavior-Environment Reciprocal Interaction

Answer 22

• Theory developed by Bandura
• States that a person’s behavior influences and in influenced by their environment and personal factors
• Behaviors do not occur solely due to outside forces, but are also influenced by our own perception and reaction to said behaviors
• This phenomenon is also called reciprocal determinism

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Question 23

Person-Situation Debate

Answer 23

• A common debate between personality theorists as to whether personalities are consistent or vary according to the situation
• Generally, traits are believed to be consistent and can predict overall behavior patterns while situations may be better at predicting specific behaviors
• knowledge of this debate allows the clinician to understand how different personality theorists conceptualize cases differently

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Question 24

Potentially Harmful Treatments

Answer 24

• Term used to describe therapies that have been shown to cause harm to clients
• Evident through the worsening of symptoms or appearance of new symptoms after treatment has been implemented
• The treatments have enduring negative effects
• Examples of PHT’s include Scared Straight Programs, rebirthing therapy, conversion therapy, etc.

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Question 25

Pleasure Principle

Answer 25

• Term coined baby Freud that refers to the psychic force that motivates people to seek immediate gratification of instinctual impulses, such as sex, hunger, thirst and eliminations
• Humans naturally gravitate toward gratification/pleasure and avoid pain

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Question 26

Projective Hypothesis Techniques

Answer 26

• Idea that the presentation of ambiguous stimuli
• can uncover a person’s unconscious desires, emotions and motivations as the person projects onto the stimulus
• Used in psychodynamic therapy
• A technique used to do this includes the Rorschach Inkblot Test or draw a house test
• These techniques are highly debated and in general lack empirical support; subjective and not reliable assessments

Ex: A psychodynamic theorist give John the Rorschach ink blot test. When John explains a squiggle as a snake, the therapist interprets this is John have unconscious sexual desires.

Question 27

Psychodynamic Theory

Answer 27

• A theory descendent from Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, developed by Adler and Jung
• Roots much of psychological health or dysfunction in unconscious impulses, childhood experiences, and unresolved conflicts between what Freud called the id, ego and superego
• In this theory, the clinician is the expert and interprets the patient’s behavior
• The goal of psychodynamic theory is to bring the unconscious impulses causing problems in the patient’s life to the surface

Ex: Sue is seeing a psychodynamic therapist for relationship problems. The therapist begins the session by asking Sue to speak freely about whatever is on her mind. The therapist hones in on a mention of a distant and cold relationship with her father as the potential source for her current problems. The therapist then starts to take on some of those qualities, acting slightly cold, to encourage transference and help Sue work through the issues. The therapist is using a psychodynamic approach.

A therapist is asked to assess an elementary student who appears to not be reaching his academic and social potential. Through discussion with the child, the therapist learns that the boy often only gets fed at school and does not have a proper bed to sleep in. Under a psychodynamic theory approach, the therapist would prioritize the child’s basic needs (i.e. food and sleep) before addressing more advanced intrinsic needs like social relationships. The therapist theorizes that the boy’s academic struggle stems from his lack of fulfilled basic needs.

Question 28

Psychoeducation

Answer 28

• Process of providing education/information to a client about diagnoses, treatments, specific problems, relationships between cognition/emotion/behavior, etc.
• Refers to an y transfer of knowledge about psychological concepts
• used as treatment intervention to provide client with more understanding and form a more collaborative relationship

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Question 29

Psychosexual stages

Answer 29

• Theory proposed by Freud in psychoanalysis
• In this theory, each of the psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital) are defined by what zone the libidinal energy is currently residing in
• A progression through these stages is considered a normal part of development
• Acronym for psychosexual stages: OAPLG Old Ass People Like Gummies O-oral A-anal P-phallic L-latency G-genital

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Question 30

Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)

Answer 30

• A cognitive therapy developed by Ellis
• pathology is caused by irrational beliefs
• goal is to challenge irrational beliefs and replace them with more rational beliefs
• REBT states that distress is not caused by events themselves but by one’s beliefs/judgments about the events
• Ellis used a confrontational approach to help clients realize they had the power to alter their “irrational” thinking and beliefs

Ex: John seeks therapy after an argument with boss at work. He explains to the therapist that he believes he will be homeless because of this argument. The therapist practices REBT and challenges John’s thought about becoming homeless and helps his replace it with “My boss and I disagree in this topic”

Question 31

Reality Principle

Answer 31

• Term from psychoanalytic theory
• Regulatory mechanism that represents the demand of the external world and requires the individual to forgo or modify instinctual gratification
• The reality principle is believed to govern the ego, which controls impulses and enable people to behave rationally and effectively within context

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Question 32

Resistance

Answer 32

• Term coined by Freud
• Used to describe when clients exhibit behaviors that counteract the progression of the therapy session
• Freud theorized that clients engaged in resistant behaviors because of discomfort/avoidance and that the therapist must address the meaning of the resistance in order to continue the therapeutic process

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Question 33

Schema or Core Belief

Answer 33

• Term coined by Piaget
• A cognitive structure or pattern of thinking that organizes and processes info
• Often the underlying belief that sparks an automatic thought, as the deepest, most ingrained level of cognition
• Organized units of information about the world by which we perceive and categorize new information/experiences
• Humans tend to seek out information that support previously constructed schemas

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Question 34

Self-Actualization

Answer 34

• Term coined by Maslow and used in Rogerian therapy
• Refers to when a person has realized and achieved their potential in order to become their best and truest self
• It is believed that all people have an innate drive towards self-actualization

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Question 35

Self-Concept

Answer 35

• Rogers
• Term used to refer to how an individual person perceives and evaluates themselves
• Refers to an organized set of perceptions about the self and one’s relation to their real and ideal selves, as well as their relations to other and the world

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Question 36

Self-Efficacy

Answer 36

• Concept in Bandura’s social learning theory
• Refers to one’s beliefs in their ability to succeed at certain tasks or in certain situations
• This influences how people approach situations
• If an individual has low self-efficacy, they are less likely to attempt a task or enter a new situation

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Question 37

Self-Monitoring

Answer 37

• A type of observation in which clients monitor their own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
• Self-monitoring is especially useful in low-frequency or private behaviors/events
• Self-monitoring is subject to reactivity of monitoring in which the person changes the behavior (for better or for worse) unconsciously because they are monitoring the behavior

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Question 38

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy

Answer 38

• Psychotherapy that focuses on problems in the here and now
• Has specific goals that the client views as important to achieve
• Both the therapy and the implementation of solutions occur in a limited time
• strong emphasis on solution-focus and not problem-focused

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Question 39

Systems Theory

Answer 39

• An interdisciplinary conceptual framework focusing on the wholeness, pattern, relationship, hierarchical order, integration, and organization of phenomena
• In this framework, a client is viewed holistically in context and understands that there is an interaction between “components” of the system

Ex: While doing family therapy, a therapist works from a systems theory approach. The therapist assesses many of the interactions between all family members to understand what is maintaining the problems within the family rather than focusing on the responsibility of a single individual in maintaining the problems in the family. Dad drinking, rather than focusing on dad’s drinking therapist focuses on mother fighting with the daughter and how that makes the father want to drink as well.

Question 40

Trait

Answer 40

• An enduring personality characteristic that describes or determines an individual’s behavior across a range of situations
• Typically assessed via self-report/identification
• Most commonly involve the 5 traits found in the Big 5 Personality Model (OCEAN)
• research suggests that when clients perceive similarly to their therapists personality traits it results in a stronger therapeutic relationship

Ex: A mother brings her twins into therapy because one is outgoing and social and the other is shy. The mother expresses concern. The therapist explains that each person has a different combination of traits, even twins. The therapist goes on to explain that one twin has a higher degree of extraversion than the other twin.

Question 41

Warmth, Empathy, Genuineness (WEG)

Answer 41

• Key elements of what Rogers believed to be good therapy
• Warmth refers to an unconditional positive regard and acceptance of client’s emotions
• Empathy refers to the understanding of and entry into the client’s internal frame of reference
• Genuineness refers to transparency and lack of judgment

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