Psychological Treatment Flashcards
What is psychotherapy
It is a term covering the wide range of techniques used in an attempt to enhance psychological and emotional well-being
Psychotherapy isn’t just done by psychologist who else can administer?
Social workers Counsellors Nurses GPs Psychiatrist
What makes a good therapist
Warmth to show you care
Ability to develop a good therapeutic alliance
Focus on the key issues
Able to align treatment approach with the person
Willing to get feedback from the client
Keep up to date with research
Behave in an ethical manner
What is the scientist-practitioner model?
Scientist – practitioner psychologists embody a research orientation in their practice and a practice orientation in their research
Limitations of scientist-practitioner model?
If we focus on applying evidence based-practice, are we exploring new approaches
What is the psychodynamic theory?
Founded by Freud
Assumes that psychopathology develops when people remain unaware of their true motivations and fears.
Claims people can be restored healthy functioning only when they become conscious of what has been kept unconscious
What are the two principles of psychodynamic theory
Insight-the clients capacity to understand their own psychological processes
Therapist – client allowance-crucial in effective change to the disordered psychological processes
What are the 5 core beliefs of the psychodynamic theory?
- Behaviour is driven by unconscious wishes, impulses, drives and conflicts
- There is a meaningful explanation/cause for abnormal behavior (discovered by therapist)
- Current issues are based on childhood experiences
- Emotional expression and reliving of past emotional experiences is crucial to overcome problem
- The symptoms will resolve themselves once the client understands and had emotional insight into the unconscious material
What are the stages of psychoanalysis (psychodynamic theory)?
- Free association
- Interpretation
- Dream analysis
- Resistance
- Transference
- Working through
What is free association (psychodynamic)
Encourages free reign to thoughts and feelings whilst verbalising what comes to mind.
Thought to uncover unconscious material
What is interpretation (psychodynamic)
When unconscious material begins to surface, the therapist will point out the underlying meaning.
Need to reflect insights that the person has made themselves or on the verge of making. Can be claimed as their own
What is dream analysis (psychodynamic)
Dreams are interpreted in relation to what is occurring in life.
Tries to determine hidden meaning of dreams as dreams are thought to be the channel to the unconscious
What is resistance (psychodynamic)
Blockages in free association arise from unconscious control over sensitive areas.
Targeted by the therapist
What is transference (psychodynamic)
Client transfers feelings they have for a person with the therapist and engage in a relationship with the client that resembles a past experience.
Happens because therapy is highly intimate
What is counter-transference (psychodynamic)
Where the therapist transfers their own emotional vulnerabilities onto the client.
Negative effect on the therapeutic relationship.
What is working through (psychodynamic)
Assisting the client in processing the information and insights gained during therapy.
What are some criticisms of Freud’s theory?
Sample bias: rich, intelligent samples
Confirmation bias: selecting pieces of information that support claims and disregarding information that doesn’t
Expensive due to being long term
Lack of scientific rigour in some situations
What is humanistic-existential psychotherapy?
Requires insight
Believes that human nature is good and positive and that we all have the ability to reach our full potential.
Focus on phenomenology of the client: each person consciously experiencing the self, relationships and the world.
What is the aim of humanistic-existential psychotherapy?
Help people to get in touch with their feelings, with their true selves and with a sense of meaning in life.
Who had a large role to play in creating the humanistic-existential psychotherapy?
And why?
Abraham Maslow
Viewed psychology as being too concerned with disturbed or those who could be explained in mechanistic approaches (behaviourism).
Explain Maslows hierarchy of needs
Psychological needs Safety needs Social needs Esteem needs Self actualisation
Work your way from psychological needs to self actualisation. Need to complete one level before the next
What is person-centred therapy?
Carl Rogers - humanistic-existential
Non-directive therapy - clients can use therapy however they choose. Assumed that clients will reveal important emotional patterns. With increased awareness and heightened sense of acceptance, people come to think more realistically, become more tolerant of others and engage in more adaptive behaviour
What are the core traits of the therapist in person-centres therapy?
Must be authentic and genuine
Must express unconditional positive regard (non-judgemental)
Must relate to the client with empathetic understanding
What are the Rogerian assumptions?
Healthy people are aware of their own behaviour.
People are good and they become disturbed when faulty learning intervenes
Behaviour is purposive and goal directed
Therapists should not attempt to manipulate events for the individual - rather they should create conditions which will facilitate independent decision making from the client
What is gestalt therapy?
Humanistic-existential approach
Fritz Perls
Believe that people with psychological difficulties are incomplete gestalts because they have excluded from their awareness the experiences and aspects of personality that trigger anxiety.
Need to accept responsibility for feelings.
Dysfunction is caused by individuals suppressing experiences and traits that are anxiety inducing therefore we need to recognise and except these to become an integrated whole
What does gestalt therapy suggest about dysfunction?
Through socialisation people become overly self controlling of the thoughts, behaviour and feelings in order to conform
In this process they lose touch with the inner self and this leads to dysfunction such as anxiety and depression
What are the two techniques used in gestalt therapy?
Empty chair technique: provides opportunity to talk without risk
Two-chair technique: outlines both sides of the story as clients move from chair to chair
Basic principles of behavioural therapies?
Short term = inexpensive
Focusses on current behaviour and not on the past
Commences on a behavioural analysis
Targets problematic behaviours, cognitions and emotional responses
Exposure therapy?
Used to treat phobias.
Involves confronting the client with the stimulus they fear.
Techniques include:
- systematic desensitisation
- flooding
- virtual reality exposure
Prevented from leaving the stimulus until anxiety decreases
What happens to anxiety overtime?
Anxiety reactions decay over time due to the energy requirements for maintenance
By preventing the capacity to flee or fight the person experiences anxiety decay and is therefore reconditioned
What is systematic desensitisation
Involves pairing relaxation with imagery of anxiety provoking scenes or stimuli it is a counter conditioning process
Anxiety will level out and won’t be able to sustain it CBT gives the experience of anxiety going up and coming down again without escape
What is flooding?
Client is exposed immediately to feared experience
The therapist stops the person from engaging in their typical avoidance responses both behaviourally and cognitively
What is virtual reality?
The client views computer generated images of the feared experience