Psychological Therapies Flashcards
What are the different frameworks for psychological therapies?
Type A: psychological treatment as an integral part of mental health care
e.g. community psychiatric nurse talking to a patient who is venting their emotions
Type B: eclectic psychological therapy & counselling (no. of different techniques/interventions from different approaches)
Type C: formal psychotherapies
e.g. structured therapy session (CBT, psychodynamics, systemic/family)
What is the definition of an antecedent?
Stimulus that cues an organism to perform a learned behaviour
Outline the techniques and limitations of CBT.
Relieve symptoms by changing maladaptive thoughts, beliefs, and behaviour
We interpret the world via values, beliefs, expectations, attitudes, etc. Changes in mood are directly related to the way we make sense of events
- graded exposure to fearful situations
- activity scheduling e.g. to combat social withdrawal -> depression
- reinforcement & reward
- roleplay/modelling
- education (conceptualising the cognitive model)
- monitoring thoughts/behaviours/feelings/contexts to develop awareness of their inter-relationship
- examining & challenging negative thoughts (and therefore the principles of their behaviour - their “rules of life”)
- behavioural experiments (combats avoidance of activities)
- cognitive rehearsal of coping with difficult situations
Use for: depression, anxiety states, eating disorders, sexual dysfunction, as an adjunct to treatment for psychotic disorders
Requires active participants who will engage collaboratively, accept a model emphasising thoughts and feelings, accept that behaviour can be changed and is a result of their thoughts, can articulate their problems, and are seeking practical solutions to their problems.
Limitations: in practice there are co-morbidities, requires expert practitioners, not useful when the problems are complex/diffuse
Outline the techniques and limitations of psychodynamic therapy.
Focal = conflicts arising from early experience that are re-enacted in adult life
Analytic = allows conscious conflicts to be re-enacted and interpreted in relationship with therapist
- aims to resolve unconscious conflicts that underlie symptoms
- therapy explores feelings using the experience of the therapist and the relationship between the the therapist and patient
- enhance insight into difficulties and incorporates painful previous experiences
Used for interpersonal difficulties & personality problems (diffuse problems)
Requires a capacity to tolerate mental pain and an interest in self-exploration.
Define transference and counter-transference.
Transference = what the patient projects onto the therapist (relates to patient’s defences)
Counter-transference = what the therapist brings to the session (needs to be disentangled from the patient’s issues)
Outline the techniques and limitations of systemic/family therapy.
Focus on relational context
Addresses patterns of interaction and meaning
Used in child psychiatry and schizophrenics (reduces probability of psychotic relapse)
Outline the techniques and limitations of humanistic/client-centered therapy.
Relies on general counselling skills (warmth, empathy, unconditional positive regard)
Used for those coping with immediate crises where there is already motivation and willingness to problem solve
e.g. life events (illness, loss), subclinical depression, mild anxiety, stress, relationship difficulties
Recent onset (<1yr)
Outline the cognitive model, and how this is applied in CBT.
Inter-relationship of thoughts, emotions, behaviour, & physiology and the effect of environmental stimuli on this inter-relationship
CBT:
Early experiences influence core beliefs (“I am…”) which form assumptions (“I need to…so that…” <- conditional schemata e.g. general worth, love, ability, moral qualities, normality)
Critical incidents cause negative automatic thoughts based on assumptions which interplay with physical/somatic, emotional/affective, and behavioural factors.
CBT aims to alter assumptions and behaviour
What is the negative cognitive triad?
Negative view of self, world around, and the future (future <- suicide risk)
Define psychotherapy.
Systematic use of a relationship between a patient and a therapist - as opposed to physical and social methods - to produce changes in feelings, cognition, and behaviour
