Psychotherapy Flashcards
What is interpretation in psychodynamic therapy?
Refers to the expression of therapist’s understanding of the meaning of feelings,
attitudes, defense mechanisms and behaviours currently exhibited during therapy. Interpretation
is usually based on psychoanalytical theory practiced by the therapist. Interpretation made by a
therapist sheds light on an unconscious process in the patient, therefore making it accessible to
the conscious mind.
What is transference?
The feelings, thoughts and attitudes given to a person in the present (such as the
therapist), that do not befit that person but actually originate from a person or figure in the
patient’s past (such as a parent).
What is countertransference?
The therapist’s spontaneous feelings and emotions that are evoked when
s/he ‘tunes in’ to the patient’s unconscious communication, including the patient’s transference.
Analysing counter-transference can provide insight into a patient’s psychic state in the same
sense as analysing transference.
What is acting out?
Performing an action to express unconscious emotional conflicts.
While
acting out, the unconscious impulse is discharged by means of an action instead of verbalization.
What is working through in psychodynamic therapy?
A process of unlearning prior misconceptions and
learning new constructions.
Immature defence mechanisms
Acting out
Regression
Denial
Psychotic defence mechanisms
Splitting
Idealisation/denigration
Projection
Projective identification
Neurotic defence mechanism
Repression Intellectualisation Rationalisation Reaction formation Displacement Magical thinking
Mature defence mechanisms
Humour
Altruism
Sublimation
CI to psychodynamic therapy
Poor impulse control
Poor frustration tolerance
Low motivation.
Antisocial personality disorder
Absence of psychological mindedness (ability to scrutinize and verbalize one’s own cognitive
processes)
Being in the midst of a major life crisis.
Poor ego strength (capacity to shuffle oneself appropriately between two different ego states e.g.,
being a passive and dependent patient vs. being autonomous and plan one’s routine life outside
the therapy)
Severe active psychosis
Poor ability to form and sustain relationships
Indications for supportive psychotherapy
Helpful for periods of transition and adaptation, when a
deeper working through particular problems is not required
Methods in brief psychodynamic therapy
Goal setting and explicit identification of the anxiety and defenses to be tackled.
Focus choosing: Identification of currently active problem (here and now – core conflictual
relationship themes that represent cyclical maladaptive patterns are focused). Explore
symptom precipitants and associated early trauma and avoidance.
Active interpretation: Therapist may guide therapy by use of interpretation at an earlier point
than in more prolonged methods.
Creating heightened emotional contexts conducive to change
Predictors of good outcomes in brief, psychodynamic therapy
Circumscribed problem Strong motivation Able to express feeling at assessment Psychological-mindedness At least one good relationship Evidence of achievement Not actively suicidal, chronically obsessional or phobic Not grossly destructive or self-destructive; not actively abusing illicit drugs
Primary aim of supportive psychotherapy
To support reality testing
Provide ego support
Reestablish usual level of functioning
When to use supportive psychotherapy
in otherwise healthy patients with overwhelming ongoing crises and those
with ego deficits. Also useful in those who are not psychologically motivated to ‘explore’
themselves. This is not time limited and the therapist must be predictable available in times of
need. Problem solving, advice, reinforcement and reassurance are the main tools.
Key idea of general systems theory in family therapy
A system is a set of interconnected components that form a whole; The components
show properties of the whole, rather than of individual components; Cycles of feedback between
different components within the system continuously create and re-create a basis for interaction.
Types of family therapy
Behavioural Psychoeducational Strategic Family systems approach Structural Dynamic
What is aim and theory of dynamic family therapy
•Theme: To bring to light forces at play that influence the way a family functions. Emphasizes
individual maturation in the context of the family system.
•Theory: There are unconscious processes which, when noticed and worked through, can bring
relief to the family’s conflictual experiences
Methods of dynamic family therapy
Makes interpretations, noticing the formation of alliances, dyads and triads between
members. Therapists seek to establish an intimate bond with each family member. Family
sculpting refers to family members physically arranging themselves in a scene depicting
individual view of relationships.
What is aim and theory of structural family therapy
•Theme: Challenges the patterns of behaviours or interactions that disrupt a family structure.
•Theory: A well-functioning family has a structure: clear hierarchies, boundaries between
generations, and well-defined rules. When these are disrupted, problems occur.
Methods of structural family therapy
The therapist challenges the interactions between the generations. Both individual
and family sessions used.
What is aim and theory of family systems approach to family therapy
•Theme: Emphasizes one’s ability to retain individual self in the face of familial tension.
•Theory: An emotional triangle is a three-party system where closeness of two members (in
either positive or negative sense) tends to exclude a third. This hot triangle leads to symptom
formation
Methods of family systems approach of family therapy
The degree of enmeshment is analysed. The therapist maintains minimal emotional
contact with family members. Bowen also found a tool to analyse history of families across
generations – called the genogram.
What is the aim and theory of strategic approach of family therapy
•Theme: Aims to find the positives in a system and builds on them
•Theory:Problems within families can be maintained by over-emphasising them, so that they end up being
maintained rather than resolved
Method of strategic approach to family therapy
•Activity:Positive reframing: finding the positive in negatively-labelled interactions
•Utilizes the domino effect: if one problem is properly addressed, it leads to reduction or resolution of other
problems
What is the aim and theory of psychoeducational approach of family therapy
•Theme: The objective is to enhance family support and reduce stress
•Theory: There is a risk of relapse when family interactions are overinvolved, emotionally charged and
critical. The course of mental illness, such as schizophrenia, will be affected by these stress levels and the
counterbalanced by support available.
Method of psychoeducational approach to family therapy
Focuses on helping families to understand factors that affect stress levels, helps facilitate
communication and encourages problem-solving strategies.
What is the aim and theory of behavioural approach of family therapy
•Theme: The aim is to closely observe and evaluate behaviours in the family so as to identify problems and
make specific interventions.
•Theory: Behaviour is essentially maintained in a more or less linear model. Symptoms are viewed as learned
responses that reinforce dysfunctional patterns of relating.
Method of behavioural approach to family therapy
•Activity: Treatment is symptom-focussed and time-limited. The therapist’s personality is not important, but
therapist action is.
What is the Milan systemic approach to family therapy?
Gives great emphasis on circular and reflexive
questioning. In a circular fashion each family member is asked to comment and reflect on each
other’s response.
What is paradoxical therapy?
Therapist makes the patient intentionally engage in the unwanted behavior (called the paradoxical injunction) e.g., avoid a phobic object or perform a compulsive ritual. This counterintuitive approach can provide new insights for some patients.
What is operant conditioning?
Changing behaviour by use of reinforcement
What is systematic desensitization based on?
The behavioral principle of
counterconditioning (i.e. gradual approach of feared situation in a psychophysiological
state that inhibits anxiety leads to reduction of anxiety response.) and reciprocal
inhibition (i.e. when anxiety and a relaxed state are co-existent, then anxiety reduces).
Steps in systematic desensitization
- Relaxation Training
- Constructing a Hierarchy of Anxieties
- Desensitization of the stimulus
What happens in systematic desensitization
The patient is exposed to a graded hierarchy of anxiety-provoking situations in
stepwise fashion.
Explain concept of relaxation in systematic desensitization
Relaxation produces physiological effects opposite to those of anxiety. In
progressive relaxation patients relax muscle groups in a fixed order
starting from small muscle groups working upwards
What happens in graded exposure therapy
relaxation training is not involved, and treatment is
carried out in a real-life context though in a hierarchical fashion.
What happens in autogenic training
a method of self-suggestion whereby the subject directs
his/her attention to specific bodily areas whilst carrying out a relaxation exercise
What is applied tension?
a technique that is the opposite of relaxation is used to
counteract the fainting response (for example in injection phobias)
What is flooding?
In flooding based therapy, real life (in vivo) exposure happens without any
hierarchy: the anxiety is not avoided but tackled head-on! Escaping from an anxiety-
provoking experience, in fact, reinforces the anxiety through avoidance conditioning; in
flooding this conditioning is targeted.
What is success in flooding based on?
The success of flooding depends on exposing patients for a reasonable duration until
mastery and calm composure are gained. Premature withdrawal will reinforce the
avoidance.
What is the name of imaginal flooding?
Implosion
When is flooding CI?
Poor stress tolerance
Cardiac morbidity that may cause ischaemia
Describe massed negative practice
frequently used in tic disorder, when the patient is asked to
deliberately perform the tic movement for specified periods of time, interspersed with
brief periods of rest.
What conditions is habit reversal training used in
OCD
Tic Disorder
Describe habit reversal training
Awareness training: becoming aware of what stimuli/situations provoke the behaviour
Competing response training: teaching responses that counteract the behaviour (e.g., in
forearm flexion, the patient practices forearm extension)
Contingency management: positive reinforcement for the desirable behaviour
Relaxation training
Generalisation training: once one component has been mastered; this is generalised to
other problem behaviours.
What is behaviour rehearsal?
Real-life problems are acted out under a therapists observation and direction
Theory of biofeedback?
Involuntary autonomic nervous system can be conditioned by the use of
appropriate feedback
Which autonomic functions can be conditioned
Autonomic functions conditioned include skin temperature, electrical conductivity,
muscle tension, blood pressure, respiratory rate and heart rate.
Which conditions can be treated through biofeedback
migraines, asthma, hypertension and angina
What is social skills training
employs a multitude of learning principles to aid in
recovery and rehabilitation of long-term serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.
Models of social skills training
- The basic model: here complex social repertoires are broken down into simpler steps,
subjected to corrective learning, practiced through role playing and applied in natural
settings. - The social problem-solving model: This focuses on improving impairments in information
processing that are assumed to be the cause of social skills deficits. The model targets
domains needing changes including medication and symptom management, recreation,
basic conversation, and self-care. - The cognitive remediation model: Here the corrective learning process begins by targeting
more fundamental cognitive impairments, like attention or planning. The assumption
is that if the underlying cognitive impairment can be improved, this learning will be
transferred to support more complex cognitive processes, and the traditional social
skills models can be better learned and generalized in the community.
Principle of behavioural analysis
Each behaviour serves a purpose for a person. Identifying such function (may be positive
or negative reinforcement) is important to manipulate behaviour through therapy. This
forms the principle of functional assessment.
What does behavioural analysis consist of
1) Identifying Motivating Operations (why is it happening)
2) Identifying Antecedents/Triggers for the behaviour (what triggers it to happen)
3) Identifying the Behaviour that has been operationalized (what exactly happens)
4) Identifying the Consequences of the behaviour, which reinforces it (what keeps it
happening)
What is a behavioural treatment plan?
Conducting a Functional Analysis can assist in making a
behavioural treatment plan. Identify clearly the problems/symptoms, set short-term and
long-term goals and objectives, define specific interventions/actions, and decide how
outcomes will be measured (e.g., Use of a chart to mark symptom reduction, or to measure
change in incidences of aggressive behaviour).
How are behavioural interventions measured in behavioural analysis?
Repeatability refers to the frequency of the behaviour.
Temporal extent refers to the duration of each instance of behaviour.
Temporal locus refers to the time point at which each instance of behaviour occurs.
Response latency is the measured time interval (reaction time) between the onset of a
stimulus and the initiation of the response.
Inter-response time is the amount of time between two consecutive responses.
Describe negative automatic thoughts or cognitive distortions
cognitions that automatically
arise in certain situations or as a reflex
response to certain behaviours
What are conditional assumptions?
Rules or
guidelines for life – they usually start with
the phrase ‘I must’ or ‘I should’
What are core beliefs or schemes
Ones appraisal of oneself
Name the maladaptive cognitive assumptions
Minimisation and magnification Over-generalizing Selective abstraction Personalization Arbitrary inference Dichotomous thinking Catastrophization
Cognitive assumptions in panic disorder
Catastrophic misinterpretation of physiological experiences
Cognitive assumptions in OCD
- Thoughts are as powerful as actions (thought omnipotence)
- Alternative or substitute action can undo or compensate for another
thought or action.
What maintains cognitive distortions?
Situational avoidance
In-situation safety behaviours
Attentional deployment
Rumination
What are in-situation safety behaviours?
Variety of
subtle behaviours/internal mental processes that most
patients engage in while in a fearful situation. These are
actually intended to prevent feared outcome. E.g.,
bowing the head down and gently leaning leftwards
when having a panic, with a hope to increase heart’s
circulation. This makes one believe erroneously that
this behaviour is the reason why one survived the
‘attack’. Commonly, patients engage in a large number
of different safety behaviours at any time during a
crisis.
Techniques employed in CBT
Guided discovery
Questioning identified beliefs
Testing predictions
Stages of guided discovery
Stage 1: Asking informal questions Delineate patient’s concerns
Stage 2: Listening To be clear about exact issues
Stage 3: Summarising To demonstrate understanding and to revise
Stage 4: Synthesizing / analytical
questions
‘How does all the information discussed fit
with your idea that you are a failure?’
What is guided discovery?
Refers to a style of the interview where sensitive questioning allows
patients to reach new interpretations/ reframe their cognitions independently; therapist
guides self-discovery and does not prescribe the solution.
CBT approaches for anxiety
Behavioural experiments
Imagery modification
Cognitive restructuring
Dropping safety-seeking behaviours
Describe behavioural experimination
follow construction of hypothesis about symptoms e.g.,, a
hypothesis that ‘when one has a panic attack he will not get suffocated even if he is not
hyperventilating or holding tight to his chest’ is tested through homework by the patient
conducting an experiment of not holding tight and not hyperventilating and reporting the
event in next session. This helps to:
1. Establish that a feared catastrophe will not happen;
2. Discover the importance of maintaining factors;
3. Discover the importance of negative thinking;
4. Find out whether an alternative strategy will be of any value; and
5. Generate evidence for a non-disease-based explanation
Describe dropping safety seeking behaviours
Patients can test out the effects of these behaviors for
themselves by conducting an alternating treatment experiment. This experiment involves,
first, increasing the target behavior for a day—such as bodily checking and information
seeking—and, second, monitoring anxiety, bodily symptoms, and strength of belief at
regular intervals. On the next day, the patient has to ban completely carrying out the
target behaviour, but once again, anxiety, symptoms, and strength of belief are monitored
at intervals. The resulting data is reviewed and graphed at the next session.
Techniques in CBT for OCD
Thought stopping
Thought postponement
Exposure and response prevention
Describe thought stopping
Patient shouts stop or applies an aversive stimulus such as pressing nails to counteract obsessional preoccupation
Describe thought postponement
Postponing the thought until specified time and not delaying it until then to gain control
Describe ERP in OCD
refers to a paradigm similar to systematic
desensitization where the hierarchy of obsession provoking situations is created and
exposed to while preventing any compulsions or responses being carried out.