Treatment of psychological disorders

Question 1

What are the goals of treatment?

Answer 1

1) Provide relief from distress
2) Increase self-awareness and insight into problems
3) Teach coping skills to manage symptoms/distress
4) Identify and resolve the root causes of the disorder

Question 2

What does the psychodynamic approach assume?

Answer 2

Unconscious conflicts originate from early life experience, evoke defense mechanisms and then cause observable symptoms

Question 3

What is the aim of a psychodynamic treatment?

Answer 3

Identify these unconscious conflicts and bring them into conscious awareness and then help the client to develop strategies to resolve those conflicts

Question 4

Give an example of a psychodynamic technique

Answer 4

Free association or dream analysis

Question 5

What is the structure of psychodynamic therapies?

Answer 5

Highly variable, but could be 3-5 sessions per week

Question 6

What does behaviour therapy assume?

Answer 6

That many psychological disorders arise from faulty learning, involving both classical and operant conditioning

Question 7

What is the aim of behaviour therapy?

Answer 7

Use associative learning principles, particularly extinction to unlearn or relearn those associations

Question 8

What is an example of behaviour therapy?

Answer 8

Systematic desensitisation

Question 9

What type of associative learning is flooding?

Answer 9

Classical

Question 10

What does cognitive behavioural therapy assume?

Answer 10

Distorted ways of thinking and cognitive biases directly cause symptoms of psychological disorders

Question 11

What is the aim of CBT

Answer 11

Change the dysfunctional cognitions that underlie psychological disorders

Question 12

What is the technique for CBT

Answer 12

1) Challenge the dysfunctional thought (what is the evidence for them) 2) Replacing these with more rational and healthy beliefs 3) Testing out these new beliefs during homework

Question 13

Give an example of CBT

Answer 13

Attentional bias for spiders, irrational spider fear, disorder is phobia

Question 14

What do humanistic therapies assume?

Answer 14

Important to consider the person as a whole rather than the specific cognitions, behaviours, or emotions that appear disordered

Question 15

What are the aims of humanistic therapies?

Answer 15

Encourage the client to find their own solutions to enable them to move from one state to another

Question 16

What are some humanistic therapy techniques?

Answer 16

Unconditional positive regard - non-judgemental
Non-directive - active listening
CLIENT CENTRED THERAPY - Rogers

Question 17

What do family therapies assume?

Answer 17

Many psychological disorders arise from dysfunctional relationships with and communication between close family members .

Question 18

What are the aims and techniques for family therapies?

Answer 18

Therapist leads discussing with patient and their close family members.

Question 19

What do drug treatments assume?

Answer 19

Psychological disorders are caused by brain dysfunction that can be corrected, or at least temporarily alleviated by medication.

Question 20

Give an example of drug therapy

Answer 20

SSRI’s (Selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitor’s), Zoloft, Antidepressant, Depression

Question 21

What are some limitations of drug treatments?

Answer 21

Side effects, Overprescription medicalises everyday problems of living
Many drugs are ineffective for people with mild symptoms

Question 22

What is a case study

Answer 22

Detailed report of treatment provided to an individual patient and their outcome

Question 23

What are the three possible outcomes after treatment

Answer 23

Improvement, remission, or deterioration

Question 24

What is the evidence that sick people tend to get better?

Answer 24

About 30% of people with depression or anxiety will get better with no formal treatment. Known as spontaneous remission.

Question 25

What can you determine by using active control and waitlist control groups

Answer 25

1) If both treatments are better than doing nothing at all (Waitlist)
If both treatments offer something over and above a placebo effect
If one treatment is superior to the other

Question 26

What trial does medicine make the most use of

Answer 26

The randomised controlled trial

Question 27

What are some problems with RCT’s

Answer 27

Dropout rates can be high, very expensive, doesn’t take into account patients preferred therapy as random