Theory Flashcards
GESTALT THEORY
HERE-AND-NOW
Gestalt techniques, which can be applied in either a group or an individual setting, are designed to bring out spontaneous feelings and self-awareness and promote personality growth. Examples of such techniques are role play, the empty-chair technique, and the hot-seat technique.
PSYCHOANALYSIS
UNCONSCIOUS DRIVES
A longer-term therapeutic approach that addresses early childhood experiences and current defenses, and is not used in the self-efficacy approach.
Psychoanalytical counseling is often appealing to multicultural clients because of the strong focus on family dynamics and, for some, the formality of the therapist which may appeal to the client’s expectation of professional distance. Psychoanalysis also emphasizes conceptual relativity and a lack of assumption, which may appeal to multicultural clients as well.
TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS GROUPS
ACTION & AFFECT
Transactional analysis groups focus on a combination of action and affect, and the leader is regarded as the diagnostician and teacher. This role of the leader as the instructor creates a structure that many multicultural group members like. One technique commonly used in transactional analysis groups is the contract, which can be adjusted for all types of beliefs and values. Transactional analysis gives a narrow (rather than broad) understanding of human nature, is both action- and affect-oriented, and does contain some concepts that may be difficult for multicultural clients to understand.
MULTIMODAL THERAPY
BASIC ID
There are seven interactive modalities used in multimodal therapy, which can be remembered by using the acronym BASIC ID. These include behaviors (B), affective responses (A), sensations (S), images (I), cognitions (C), interpersonal relationships (I), and drugs and biology (D). Counselors operating from this approach typically use anxiety-management techniques, biofeedback, relaxation training, and other behaviorally based interventions.
NEO-FREUDIANISM
MORE EGO, LESS ID
Neo-Freudians are psychoanalysts who have moved away from Freud’s emphasis on the id as the main psychological force. More emphasis is placed on the ego, which is controlled by the reality principle. Like Freud, Neo-Freudians still believe in the power of unconscious desires and drives, focus on childhood experiences, and emphasize both psychodynamic and sociodynamic forces.
RACIAL/CULTURAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT MODEL
5 STAGES OF MINORITY DEVELOPMENT
There are five stages of development for individuals in the minority race or culture: conformity, dissonance, resistance and immersion, introspection, and integrative awareness. Integrative awareness occurs when the individual can appreciate aspects of both the dominant and minority cultures. Whites may also go through similar development because they are not immune to societal beliefs such as racist attitudes and poor treatment of minorities. Whites can go through the same stages as members of a minority culture, culminating in the final stage when they solidify a non-racist identity.
COGNITIVE THERAPY (CT)
REPLACE FAULTY COGNITIONS
AKA Beck Therapy, CT is a form of psychotherapy based on the concept that emotional and behavioral problems in an individual are, at least in part, the result of maladaptive or faulty ways of thinking and distorted attitudes toward oneself and others. The objective of the therapy is to identify these faulty cognitions and replace them with more adaptive ones, a process known as cognitive restructuring.
PLAY THERAPY
CHILDREN
Play therapy is best suited for children who lack the verbal and emotional maturity to talk about their feelings. Instead. they express their feelings, act out goals, and direct their own lives through play. Counselors can then comment on the child’s play and help them organize the play to best resolve their feelings.
STRUCTURAL FAMILY THERAPY
TRANSACTIONAL PATTERNS
Salvador Minuchin is best known for his development of structural family therapy, which is concerned with the transactional patterns between family members. The structure of these transactional patterns is the focus of family therapy, as the therapist attempts to change the patterns in order to redefine boundaries and restructure the family system.
MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY
KOHLBERG’S CONVENTIONS
Identified three levels of moral development that relate to the relationship between the individual and society.
- Preconventional, individuals judge the morality of an action based on its immediate consequences and rewards.
- Conventional, individuals judge morality based on the comparison of actions to society’s expectations.
- Postconventional, individuals realize they are separate from society and can have principles and ethics different from the greater society.
TYPES OF PREVENTION GROUPS
PRIMARY, SECONDARY, & TERTIARY
- PRIMARY - Primary groups emphasize preventing problems and developing healthy behaviors, for example, educational groups about the causes and symptoms of depression.
- SECONDARY - Secondary groups focus on reducing the severity of a specific problem and include preventative and remedial elements, such as adjusting to a loss.
- TERTIARY - Tertiary groups involve rehabilitation and focus on returning individuals to healthy functioning. Tertiary groups are best for those with more serious types of pathology, such as severe depression or psychosis. Many participants in tertiary groups also see an individual therapist on a regular basis.
ACTUARIAL THEORY
INTERNAL QUALITIES (CAREER)
Actuarial theorists focus on the individual’s needs, traits, interests, or other internal structure. Trait-factor and needs-based theories are two types of actuarial theories, as they each focus on a specific concepts (personality traits and unmet needs) to explain career selection.
ATTRIBUTION THEORY
EXPLANATIONS, EXPECTATIONS, & FUTURE
Attribution theory refers to the way that explanations individuals offer for their outcomes influence their expectations of future success and failure. This also influences how motivated individuals may be to succeed.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT)
CT + BT
A form of psychotherapy that integrates theories of cognition and learning with treatment techniques derived from cognitive therapy and behavior therapy.
BOWENIAN FAMILY THERAPY
TRIANGLES & TRANSGENERATIONAL
Murray Bowen is well-known for his comprehensive contributions to the field of systems family counseling. Bowen’s approach is transgenerational, meaning that he believes communication patterns and dynamics are passed down from one generation to the next. He believes that triangles within family systems represent the most basic building blocks of a family’s emotional system. In a triangle, emotional discomfort that exists between two family members may be somewhat alleviated by bringing in a third family member to resolve the stress. Bowen also stresses the importance of self-differentiation, projection onto children in families, birth order and sibling position, and societal regression.
