Week 23 Flashcards
Assessment
Individual’s who may have a psychological disorder begin with an assessment designed to elicit their personal history and presenting symptoms
How to assess
Assess clients background/severity of symptoms
Gather measurements via observations/interviews/medical images
Can be done before and after treatment to assess the effectiveness
Clinical interviews
Typically part of any assessment. Thorough interviews conducted by trained professionals designed to elicit information on the client’s history and presenting system. Usually use a predetermined set of questions
Self-report questionnaires
Made up of a series of questions asking directly about symptoms or behaviours. They often use a rating scale on which clients endorse the degree or frequency to which they are experiencing symptoms or have engages in certain behaviours in a set period of time. They measure typical behaviour and are usually transparent, particularly vulnerable to bias.
Psychological tests
An instrument designed to measure unobserved/underlying constructs, such intelligence or personality traits. Less transparent and less susceptible to faking
Behavioural monitering
Involves recording specific behaviours and the circumstances around those behaviours. The purpose is to learn about the frequency of target behaviours/precursor and the reinforcers that help maintain behaviours
Drug therapy
Use of medication to treat psychological disorders; most drug therapies for psychological disorders focus on medications that affect the neurotransmitters that convey information between nerve cells in the brain and body
Major neurotransmitters
Dopamine
Norepinephrine
Serotonin
GABA
Dopamine
Motor control/memory/attention/reward system which attaches emotional value to external events. Excess is associated with schizo
Norepinephrine
Associated with alertness and arousal. Too little is associated with depression too much with schizo
GABA
Inhibits excitation and anxiety and induces relaxation, TOo little is associated w anxiety and mood disorders
Antipsychotic drug
A medication used primarily to treat psychotic disorders
Tardive Dyskinea
The voluntary and random movement of the facial arm/leg muscles seen in clients who have taken first generation psychotics for a long time
Main antidepressants
Tricycles
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors which inhibit the enzyme oxidase that breaks down dopamine and norepinephrine
Selective serotonin uptake inhibitors which prevent the reuptake of serotonin in the brain
Tricycles
Block the reuptake of norepinephrine and serotonin
Anti-manic drugs
Any medication used to treat bipolar disorder and manic symptoms. The most effective is the lithium carbonate. One problem is client compliance is that many people with bipolar disorder enjoy manic episodes and may stop taking the medicine to feel it
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
Used as treatment for depression and involves passing a magnetic coil over a client’s head which induces an electrical current in the neurons directly underneath it. When applied daily for 3/5 weeks it has been found to decrease depression in some
Electroconvulsive therapy
Method used to treat resistant mental health disorders by passing an electric current through electrodes placed on a client’s head in an effort to prompt a seizure and release additional GABA
Deep brain stimulation
Used to treat severe cases of OCD and depression. Electrical current is delivered via an electrode inserted into the brain to disrupt activity in specific region. Used for severe OCD and depression
Psychoanalytical
That our behaviour can be explained by unconscious forces or desires, that are the result of internal conflicts and we have to become aware of them to be cured. The process can take years and effects and outcomes are hard to measure
Humanist
Believes that psychological problems result from individuals being thwarted in their ability to realize their full potential. Therapists hep the client understand his/her real wishes and how to deal with perceived judgements that block that
Gestalt
Focus on the present moment and aim to help clients recognize what they’re thinking/feeling/doing at the moment
Systematic desensitization
Very effective type of exposure therapy especially for phobias. It involves gradually exposing clients to the feared stimulus to habutate and eventually extinguish the fear reaction. Clients are first taught relaxation techniques and then exposed to a very mild version of their phobia. As long as they’re able to return to a relaxed state, they are exposed to more and more
Flooding
Form of exposure therapy where the client is exposed to the object of their fear directly and full but w/o actual harm and kept there until his/her panic reactions go away.
Aversion therapy
Involves pairing an undesirable behaviour and an aversion stimulus so that the individual will develop a less favourable emotional association with the undesirable behaviour and its reward value will decrease
Imaginal exposure
Where the client imagine the feared stimulus rather than actually experiencing exposure, used for severe anxiety
Behaviour modification
Designed to alter behaviour using operant conditioning techniques
Token economis
A form of operant conditioning in which desired behaviours are reinforced with tokens that can be exchanged for some form of reward
Cognitive therapy
Uses a variety of therapeutic techniques to help clients identify their thoughts and to examine the logic behind those thoughts. Once clients begin to realize that their thoughts are not accurate, they can begin to form more accurate rational thoughts
Rational emotive therapy
Form of cognitive behavioural therapy that proposes the driving force behind psychological problems is the thought process behind them. Our thoughts determine our mood. It is based on Ellis’ ABC theory
ABC Theory
Theory of emotions which posits to an external event or antecedent (A) results in a specific emotion or consequence (C) because of a persons thoughts about the event (B) not because of the actual belief itself
Advantages of group therapy
Targets individuals who have certain characteristics in common. Psychoeducational interventions
Community psychology
Concerned with relationships between social systems and individual well being, especially those who are marginalized. Doesn’t focus on changing individual, but changing the community
Assertive community treatment
Delivered by a team who work w mentally ill clients wherever they are in the community
