Psychological treatments

Question 1

What is psychotherapy?

Answer 1

A psychological intervention designed to help people to resolve emotional, behavioural, and interpersonal problems and improve the quality of their lives.

Question 2

What are four common goals of psychotherapy?

Answer 2

1. Reduce symptoms of disorders
2. Enhance coping mechanisms
3. Improve quality of life/happiness
4. Increase awareness/education

Question 3

What are five common elements in psychotherapy?

Answer 3

1. Client-therapist relationship
2. Individually tailored
3. Setting
4. Hope
5. Fresh perspective

Question 4

What are the three common approaches to psychotherapy?

Answer 4

1. Psychotherapeutic
2. Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic
3. Humanistic

Question 5

Who theorised the psychoanalytic approach to the psychotherapy and in what time period?

Answer 5

Sigmund Freud; Late 1800’s

Question 6

What is the goal of the psychoanalytic approach to psychotherapy?

Answer 6

Goal is to gain insight: make a person conscious of their unconscious:

   - Unconscious wishes
   - Repressed memories

Question 7

What are the five premises of the psychoanalytic theory?

Answer 7

(1) Problematic behaviour motivated by unconscious conflicts, desires, impulses

(2) Psychological and behavioural problems linked to childhood experiences

(3) Therapist can uncover unconscious causes of disordered behaviours

(4) Re-experiencing important events (repressed memories, childhood emotions, etc.)

(5) Insight (emotional and cognitive) can promote change

Question 8

What are the six psychoanalytic techniques in psychotherapy?

Answer 8

1. Free association
2. Interpretation
3. Dream analysis
4. Resistance
5. Transference
6. Working through patient’s problems

Question 9

What are three elements of the psychodynamic therapy?

Answer 9

1. Focus on unconscious conflicts and transference
2. Emphasis on client self-directedness
3. Face-to-face, goal-focused, therapeutic relationship

Question 10

What are the four contributions of the psychoanalytic approach to psychotherapy?

Answer 10

1. Role of unconscious
2. Early experiences
3. Defence mechanisms
4. Transference/countertransference

Question 11

Who are the two main theorists for the humanistic approaches to psychotherapy?

Answer 11

Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

Question 12

What is the “Opposite” of the psychoanalytic approach?

Answer 12

Humanistic approach

Question 13

What is the name of the modernised approach to the psychoanalytic theory?

Answer 13

Psychodynamic approach

Question 14

What are three main points of the humanistic theory of psychotherapy?

Answer 14

1. People motivated by innate desire towards growth (self-actualisation)
2. Positive view of people
3. Need positive regard, empathy, and genuineness in order to grow

Question 15

What is the the goal of humanistic therapy?

Answer 15

Promote growth through promoting insight into current feelings.

Question 16

What are two major aims of humanistic therapy?

Answer 16

1. Client to gain insight into their real self
2. Emphasis on a therapeutic relationship

Question 17

What is one similarity between the psychoanalytic and humanistic theories?

Answer 17

Both theories emphasise importance of insight in order to “heal”

Question 18

What are two contributions of the humanistic theories to psychotherapy?

Answer 18

The importance of empathy active listening in psychotherapy.