Psychotherapy Flashcards
what is the definition of psychotherapy?
informed and intentional application of clinical methods and interpertional stances derived from established psychological principles for the purpose of assisting people to modify their behaviors, cognitions, emotions, and/or other personal characteristics in directions that participants deem desirable
-so focus on what patients want, not what physician wants
what are the 6 theoretical orientations?
- psychoanalytic/psychodynamic
- interpersonal
- family
- behavioral
- cognitive
- cognitive behavioral (combination)
what are the common factors of psychotherapy theories?
- expectation - by seeking help, one will change (take advantage of optimism)
- therapeutic relationship/alliance - important, but varies according to theory
- behaviorism < cognitive < combo < psychoanalytic - Hawthorne effect - improvement as a result of receiving attention (when being watched, people improve)
generally, what is the psychoanalysis and psychodynamic theory?
based on idea that unconscious conflicts are repressed and cause difficulty (insight-oriented)
-aims to make the unconscious conscious, and understand conflicts/behaviors
what are psychoanalysis and psychodynamic techniques?
- free association
- analysis of transference (how patient reacts to therapist; counter transference is how therapist reacts to patient)
- analysis of resistance
- dream interpretation
what is the timeline of psychoanalysis and psychodynamic techniques?
long-term therapy (multiple meetings/week, usually over several years)
-shorter, time-limited dynamic therapy focuses on present
what are psychoanalysis and psychodynamic techniques used to treat?
- depression
- anxiety
- some personality disorders
what is interpersonal theory generally? it’s aim?
based on idea that problematic attachments early in life predispose one to develop disorders that are expressed through troubled interpersonal relationships in present-aims to correct interpersonal problems
what are 4 major interpersonal problems?
- loss and grief
- role disputes
- role transitions
- interpersonal deficits
how long is interpersonal therapy? the focus? what is it used to treat?
- short term (12-16 sessions)
- focuses on current relationships-used to treat depression and eating disorders
what is the family systems theory of psychotherapy, generally? the aim?
based on idea that identified patient reflects a dysfunction in a whole family system
- entire family is the patient, not just the child or parent
- aims to improve family’s relational health
what are family system psychotherapy techniques?
- normalizing boundaries (instead of parents living vicariously through children)
- redefine blame (on self or on other people may not be necessary)
what is family system psychotherapy used to treat mostly?
- children identified with behavior problems
- families dealing with conflict
- teenagers with eating disorders or substance abuse
what are group therapies, generally?
used to treat people with common experiences, particular disorder, or interpersonal difficulties
- allows members to learn skills, discuss own feelings, and provide feedback and support to others
- therapist is the facilitator
- typically consists of ~8 people, meeting weekly
- often time-limited
what is behavioral therapy, generally? aim? techniques?
based on learning theory
- aim to relieve symptoms by unlearning maladaptive behaviors
- techniques based on classical conditioning and operant conditioning
- -systematic desensitization
- -aversive conditioning
- -flooding/implosion
- -token economy (positive reinforcement)
what is behavioral therapy used to treat? which techniques?
- phobias (systematic desensitization, flooding)
- depression (behavioral activation)
- autism spectrum disorders (applied behavior analysis/token economy)
- psychotic disorders (token economy)
what is classical conditioning generally?
learning signals and associations between 2 types of stimuli
what are the phases of classical conditioning? (using Pavlov)
- before conditioning has occured
- unconditioned stimulus (meat powder) elicits unconditioned response (salivation)
- -unconscious reaction-neutral stimulus (bell) elicits orienting response (originally unaware of relation) - process of conditioning
- NS followed by UCS induces UCR
- -important that NS is before UCS - after conditioning has occurred
- now conditioned stimulus (bell) induces conditioned response (salivation)
what are changes over time in the strength of conditioned response? (in terms of Pavolv)
- acquisition (CS bell and UCS meat paired in learning curve)
- extinction (UCS withheld, but CS stays cause decrease in strength of CR until it reaches zero)
- time delay
- spontaneous recovery (CS is again presented, but will go extinct again if UCS withheld)
- note that the amount of drool is lower than it was at peak of acquisition
explain stimulus generalization in terms of Pavlov’s bell
if the bell was at 1000 Hz, the max drool response occurs at 1000 Hz
-similar Hz (950, 1050) will also cause response, but not as high