Therapeutic Approaches Flashcards
What is psychoanalytic theory?
Sigmund Freud’s therapeutic approach focusing on resolving unconscious conflicts.
How is psychoanalytic theory proposed to work?
Unconscious struggles exist between the id (unconscious; our animalistic desire for sex and aggression) and the superego (partially conscious; the part of you that knows how society expects you to behave. The ego (partially conscious) mediates the id and superego. Freud believed that bringing unconscious struggles between the id and superego into conscious awareness would relieve the stress of the conflict
What is psychoanalytic theory’s modern-day counterpart?
Psychodynamic theory
How is psychodynamic theory different than psychoanalytic theory?
Psychodynamic theory puts clients into their social and interpersonal context, and focuses more on relieving psychological distress than changing the person
Free association
A technique of psychoanalytic/dynamic theorists; a process in which the patient reports all thoughts that come to mind without censorship, and these thoughts are interpreted by the therapist.
What do dreams contain according to psychoanalysts?
Manifest content (the literal content) and LATENT content (symbolic) – the latent content represents an unconscious concern, thus, the therapist must help discover the latent content underlying one’s manifest content through dream analysis
Act of transference
Patient displaces feelings for people in their life onto the therapist
Countertransference
When a therapist displaces his/her own emotions onto the patient
Disadvantages/criticisms of psychoanalysis
- Not appropriate for severe psychopathology or mental retardation
- Expensive – tx lasts many years
- Lack of empirical support
Humanistic and Person-Centred Theory (PCT)
Mental health problems arise from an inconsistency b/w patients’ behaviours and their true personal identity
Goal: create conditions for pts to discover self-worth, feel comfortable exploring their identity, and alter behaviour to reflect this identity
Who developed PCT?
Carl Rogers
Main belief of Carl Rogers underpinning PCT
All people have the potential to change and improve, and that the role of therapists is to foster self-understanding in an environment where adaptive change is most likely to occur
PCT Techniques
- Unstructured conversation b/w therapist and pt (like psychodynamic)
- Therapist takes a PASSIVE role – do not try to change pt’s thoughts or behaviours directly (like in psychoanalysis)
Original name of PCT?
non-directive therapy (flexible approach to therapy)
Unconditional positive regard
In person-centered therapy, an attitude of warmth, empathy and acceptance adopted by the therapist in order to foster feelings of inherent worth in the patient.
PCT Disadvantages
- Mixed findings about effectiveness
- Tx is based primarily on unspecific treatment factors (techniques that can be applied to anyone, like establishing a good relationship with the pt)
- Uses same practices for everyone (one size fits all)
CBT
A family of approaches with the goal of changing the thoughts and behaviors that influence psychopathology.
- Present-focused; now vs. causes from the past, such as childhood relationships
- Brief; 12-16 weekly sessions
- Empirical evidence of efficacy
What is the premise of CBT?
Thoughts, behaviours and emotions interact and contribute to various mental disorders
Who invented CBT?
Aaron T. Beck (psychiatrist) and Albert Ellis (psychologist)
Ellis developed “rational-emotional behavioural therapy” which serves as the basis for CBT development
automatic thoughts
Thoughts that occur spontaneously; often used to describe problematic thoughts that maintain mental disorders.
Arise from 3 schemas: beliefs about the self, beliefs about the world, and beliefs about the future
Beck’s 3 schemas
1) Beliefs about the self
2) beliefs about the world
3) beliefs about the future
Reappraisal/Cognitive Structuring
The process of identifying, evaluating, and changing maladaptive thoughts in psychotherapy.
Exposure therapy
Esp. for anxiety disorders: pt. confronts a problematic situation and fully engages with the experience instead of avoiding it
Occurs through EXTINCTION LEARNING
CBT disadvantages
Doesn’t involve significant effort on the part of the patient, because the patient is an active participant in treatment
Ellis’ ABC model
Activating events –> Beliefs –> Consequences
Our emotions and behaviours (C) are not directly determined by life events (A), but rather by the way these events are cognitively processed and evaluated (B)
REBT divides beliefs into “rational” and “irrational” beliefs
Mindfulness
A process that reflects a nonjudgmental, yet attentive, mental state.
– other therapies try to modify or eliminate these sensations and thoughts, but mindfulness focuses on non-judgmentally accepting them
- draws attention away from past and future stressors, encourages acceptance of troubling thoughts and feelings, and promotes physical relaxation
2 important components of mindfulness
1) self-regulation of attention
2) orientation towards the present moment
Mindfulness based therapy (MBT)
A form of psychotherapy grounded in mindfulness theory and practice, often involving meditation, yoga, body scan, and other features of mindfulness exercises.