Effective Psychotherapy - Millers & Moyers Flashcards
(26 cards)
Which two distinct components (with distinct neuroanatomical foundations) are present within empathy?
Miller & Moyers = M&M, naturally
- Cognitive perspective-taking = reading the apparent inner experience/intention of others
- Shared affective responding = recognizing/experiencing another person’s emotion(s)
Drawback of shared affective responding & Bloom’s suggested solution?
It can evoke responses that are not in the best interest of individuals/society (e.g., biases generated by sympathy)
- Bloom suggests using rational compassion (objective humane decision-making)
Three characteristics of trait empathy?
M&M
- Partially heritable (no expansion besides that)
- Normally distributed in a population (probably)
- Empathy is something that can be improved (e.g., with intentional practice)
Empathy in the context of helping relationships vs. trait empathy vs. sympathy?
M&M
Trait empathy is defined by the aforementioned components & an inner experience to the average. Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone.
Accurate empathy is an observable skill (though still an internal experience), it does not require sympathy nor sharing/experiencing the others’ emotions and perspective-taking alone is not sufficient (but necessary).
- In other words, AE is that of understanding- a multi-faceted skill which can be observed and learned.
At least, I think- they yap a lot
What is a fundamental attitude for AE?
M&M
Low and behold, curiousity
Which three ways do M&M mention in which communication, in the context of AE, can go wrong?
- People don’t always say exactly what they mean
- Mishearing what one says
- Interpretation of what one says
Gordon’s 12 kinds of responses that are “roadblocks” for client’s & can get in the way of empathetic listening?
good luck with that amount lol
- Probing
- Advising
- Reassuring
- Agreeing
- Directing
- Persuading
- Analyzing
- Warning
- Distracting
- Moralizing
- Judging (smh Jesus would dissaprove)
- Shaming
What does Gordon (his 12 kinds of respones) mean with them being “roadblocks”?
Speakers are easily diverted by them and must “go around them” in order to keep on exploring their original train of thought/experience.
Common belief of what is important a clincian should reflect?
Underlying feeling/emotion
Truax & Robert’s suggestion of what is important a clincian should reflect?
Outward signs of upsetness, anxiety, defensiveness and resistance- reinforcing three themes:
- Human relationship
- Self-exploration
- Positive self-concept
Greenberg and Elliot’s suggestion of what is important a clincian should reflect?
Client experiences, particularly those of intense vulnerability
How can undershooting and overshooting reflections (intensity) be helpful strategies?
M&M
Respectively:
- Continue self-exploration
- Reconsider an extreme position/overgeneralization
Which therapeutic factor has the most consistent relationship to positive client outcomes (seemingly)?
covering a wide range of theoretical orientations
Accurate empathy, woo!
What are empathetic therapists more likely to do (which predicts better outcomes)?
M&M
Strong working allience
On average, with what type of client’s do therapists show higher livels of empathy?
M&M
Those with higher intelligence and lower pathology
There is evidence against this as well, tho
Acceptance as defined in M&M?
The ability to listen without preconception, prejudgement or condemnation
What do M&M argue that acceptance fosters in people/client’s?
lowkey based on Rogers
The possibility of change
How does one’s attitude about human nature (in the context of therapy) affect the client? (3)
- Preconception of positive/negative prognosis (based on old evidence)
- Linked with behaviour/attitude of therapist (more accepting vs. less- based on old evidence)
- Therapist behaviour/attitude can change client behaviour/attitude (e.g., by making them more or less resistant)
General trends/findings of research on therapeutic acceptance? (3)
- Majority percentage (amount depends on who judges) showed a positive relationship between therapeutic acceptance and client outcomes
- The positive impact of acceptance increased with the proportion of racial/ethnic minorities in the sample
- Higher effect size of person-centered style in samples with a majority racial/ethnic minorities (therapists were majority non-minorities)
Conclusion:
- I.e., findings support a positive link between therapeutic acceptance & client outcomes, this may even be more impactful for marginalized groups
What is the factor “intimacy/disclosure” on The Psychotherapist Expressions of Positive Regard (PEPR) and how does it relate to positive regard?
= Items that might be viewed as boundary violations (e.g., putting a hand on client’s shoulder, sharing something personal, etc.)
- Negatively related to positive regard
How do M&M define affirmations?
A way to directly convey positive regard; involves noticing and commenting on a person’s strengths, positive actions & attributes
What is meant by M&M with “embedded positive regard”?
This goes beyond direct affirmation and is moreso emergent from the ongoing appreciation of clients’ stringths, strivings, etc.
again, blame the source, not the messenger for vagueness
What is a reason that some therapeutic traditions are wary of affirmation?
Concern that gratifying a clients’ need to be appreciated diverts them from the self-examination necessary to no longer require such approval from others.
Apparently this is, in the view of some, an immature need- which is certainly something to unpack.
Note: there is no research backing this as truth, as of now, at least
Research findings/evidence for positive regard & treatment outcome? (2)
M&M
- Modest, positive effect size of positve regard on treatment outcome
- One clinical trial where positive regard did not predict client outcomes for depression (genuineness and empathy did)
