Treating Psychological Disorders Flashcards
psychological assessment
an evaluation of the patient’s psychological and mental health
psychotherapy
the professional treatment for psychological disorder through techniques designed to encourage communication of conflicts and insight
fundamental aspect of psychotherapy is that the patient directly confronts the disorder and works with the therapist to help reduce it
Psychodynamic therapy (psychoanalysis)
a psychological treatment based on Freudian and neo-Freudian personality theories in which the therapist helps the patient explore the unconscious dynamics of personality
goal of the psychotherapy is for the patient to talk about his or her personal concerns and anxieties, allowing the therapist to try to understand the underlying unconscious problems that are causing the symptoms
process of interpretation
allowing the therapist to try to understand the underlying unconscious problems that are causing the symptoms
therapist uses the patient’s expressed thoughts to try to understand the underlying unconscious problems. The analyst may try out some interpretations on the patient and observe how he or she responds to them
free association
therapist listens while the client talks about whatever comes to mind, without any censorship or filtering
therapist then tries to interpret these free associations, looking for unconscious causes of symptoms
dream analysis
analyze the symbolism of the dreams in an effort to probe the unconscious thoughts of the client and interpret their significance
insight
an understanding of the unconscious causes of the disorder
resistance
using defense mechanisms to avoid the painful feelings in his or her unconscious
transference
the patient unconsciously redirects feelings experienced in an important personal relationship toward the therapist
humanistic therapy
a psychological treatment based on the personality theories of Carl Rogers and other humanistic psychologists
based on the idea that people develop psychological problems when they are burdened by limits and expectations placed on them by themselves and others, and the treatment emphasizes the person’s capacity for self-realization and fulfillment
attempt to promote growth and responsibility by helping clients consider their own situations and the world around them and how they can work to achieve their life goals
person-centered therapy (or client-centered therapy)
an approach to treatment in which the client is helped to grow and develop as the therapist provides a comfortable, nonjudgmental environment
therapeutic alliance
a relationship between the client and the therapist that is facilitated when the therapist is genuine (i.e., he or she creates no barriers to free-flowing thoughts and feelings), when the therapist treats the client with unconditional positive regard (i.e., values the client without any qualifications, displaying an accepting attitude toward whatever the client is feeling at the moment), and when the therapist develops empathy with the client (i.e., that he or she actively listens to and accurately perceives the personal feelings that the client experiences)
Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT)
a structured approach to treatment that attempts to reduce psychological disorders through systematic procedures based on cognitive and behavioral principles
based on the idea that there is a recursive link among our thoughts, our feelings, and our behavior
CBT treats the symptoms of the disorder (the behaviors or the cognitions) and does not attempt to address the underlying issues that cause the problem. The goal is simply to stop the negative cycle by intervening to change cognition or behavior.
Behavioral therapy
psychological treatment that is based on principles of learning
direct approach is through operant conditioning using reward or punishment
Exposure therapy
a behavioral therapy based on the classical conditioning principle of extinction, in which people are confronted with a feared stimulus with the goal of decreasing their negative emotional responses to it
flooding
client is exposed to the source of his fear all at once
Systematic desensitization
a behavioral treatment that combines imagining or experiencing the feared object or situation with relaxation exercises
counterconditioning
a second incompatible response (relaxation, e.g., through deep breathing) is conditioned to an already conditioned response (the fear response).
Aversion therapy
a type of behavior therapy in which positive punishment is used to reduce the frequency of an undesirable behavior
An unpleasant stimulus is intentionally paired with a harmful or socially unacceptable behavior until the behavior becomes associated with unpleasant sensations and is hopefully reduced
cognitive therapy
a psychological treatment that helps clients identify incorrect or distorted beliefs that are contributing to disorder
changing thoughts will change emotions, and that the new emotions will then influence behavior
Aaron T. Beck and the psychologist Albert Ellis
rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) or rational emotive therapy (RET)
focused on pointing out the flaws in the patient’s thinking. Ellis noticed that people experiencing strong negative emotions tend to personalize and overgeneralize their beliefs, leading to an inability to see situations accurately
therapist’s goal is to challenge these irrational thought patterns, helping the patient replace the irrational thoughts with more rational ones, leading to the development of more appropriate emotional reactions and behaviors
develop a short-term therapy for depression that would modify these unproductive thoughts
challenges the client to test his beliefs against concrete evidence
eclectic therapy
an approach to treatment in which the therapist uses whichever techniques seem most useful and relevant for a given patient
most common form of therapy used
dialectical behavioral therapy
example of an eclectic treatment approach that has been shown to be successful in treating BPD
essentially a cognitive therapy, but it includes a particular emphasis on attempting to enlist the help of the patient in his or her own treatment
Biomedical therapies
treatments designed to reduce psychological disorder by influencing the action of the central nervous system
