Psychological Therapies

Question 1

What are the four psychological therapies?

Answer 1

Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)

Behavioural activation therapy

Interpersonal therapy (IPT)

Motivational interviewing (MI)

Question 2

Once referred for psychological therapies, what is the maximum wait time patients should expect?

Answer 2

18 weeks

Question 3

What is CBT?

Answer 3

It is a talking therapy used to change the way in which patients think, feel and behave

The therapist works with the patient to help them identify thoughts, feelings and behaviours that are unhelpful, known as thinking errors

Once these thinking errors have been identified, the patient engages in tasks between sessions to challenge these

Question 4

In what three ways can CBT be conducted?

Answer 4

On an individual basis

In groups with family members

In groups with people who experience similar issues

Question 5

What five mental health conditions can CBT be used to treat?

Answer 5

Depression

Anxiety

Eating disorders

OCD

PTSD

Question 6

What are six types of thinking errors?

Answer 6

Automatic Negative Thoughts

Unrealistic Beliefs

Cognitive Distortions

Mind Reading

Overgeneralisation

Perfectionism

Question 7

What tasks can patients undertake between CBT session to challenge their thinking errors?

Answer 7

Graded exposure and response prevention exercises

These involve the patient tackling the avoidance of feared situations, activities or objects

Question 8

How long is CBT generally conducted for?

Answer 8

12 weeks

Question 9

Does CBT focus on the present or the past?

Answer 9

Present

Question 10

What is behaviour activation therapy?

Answer 10

It is a talking therapy that encourages patients to use behaviour in influencing their emotional state

The therapist works with the patient to identify activities that they are avoiding and discuss the unintended consequences which may result from this

Once this has been identified, an activity schedule is constructed to encourage the patient to challenge this

This helps the patient to plan more activities they enjoy doing, to develop their social skills or to track their own emotions and activities

Question 11

What psychological therapy is behavioural activation a part of?

Answer 11

CBT

Question 12

What is interpersonal therapy (IPT)?

Answer 12

It is a talking therapy that helps patients identify and address problems in their relationships with family, partners and friends.

The therapist works with the patient to construct an ‘interpersonal map’, which establishes relationships critical to that patient and difficulties in these relationships which may be contributing to depressive symptoms

Once this has been identified, the therapists sets the patients ‘informal’ goals to improve interpersonal functioning

Question 13

How does IPT work?

Answer 13

It is based upon the concept that our relationships with other individuals can impose significant impacts on our mood

Question 14

What mental health condition can be managed by IPT? Why?

Answer 14

Depression

Depression is often associated with changes in or contingent with significant interpersonal events

Question 15

How long is IPT generally conducted for?

Answer 15

12-16 weeks

Question 16

Does IPT focus on the present or the past?

Answer 16

Present

Question 17

What is motivational interviewing (MI)?

Answer 17

It is a talking therapy used to elicit patient motivation to allow change in a certain negative behaviour

Question 18

When is MI generally used?

Answer 18

It is considered in a wide range of health care setting, in which behaviour change is considered, however the patient may unmotivated or ambivalent to this

Question 19

When is MI used in psychiatry?

Answer 19

It is often used to manage alcohol and substance misuse

Question 20

What are the four principles of MI?

Answer 20

Expressing Empathy

Develop Discrepancy

Avoiding Arguments

Supporting Self-Efficacy

Question 21

Describe the ‘expressing empathy’ principle of MI

Answer 21

It involves the therapist listening and expressing empathy to patients through the use of reflective listening

The clinician listens and presents ideas the patient has discussed in a different way

Question 22

Why is the ‘expressing empathy’ principle of MI important?

Answer 22

It strengthens the doctor-patient relationship and encourages the patient to be more willing to open about their thoughts

Question 23

Describe the ‘developing discrepancy’ principle of MI

Answer 23

It involves the therapist developing discrepancies between the current self and what they want to be like in the future after a change has taken place

Question 24

Why is the ‘developing discrepancy’ principle of MI important?

Answer 24

This increases the patient’s awareness that there are consequences to their current behaviours

Question 25

Describe the 'avoiding arguments' principle of MI

Answer 25

It involves the therapist avoiding arguments with the patient

Question 26

Why is the 'avoiding arguments' principle of MI important?

Answer 26

Arguments could exacerbate the patient to become more withdrawn, degenerating any progress that has been made and decreasing rapport with the patient

Question 27

Describe the 'supporting self-efficacy' principle of MI

Answer 27

It involves the therapist supporting self-efficacy, in which they accentuate that patient’s strengths and what they have been successful in

Question 28

Why is the 'supporting self-efficacy' principle of MI important?

Answer 28

This encourages the patient to incorporate these strengths into future attempts and empower the patient to believe that they are capable of change

Question 29

What are the five stages of change?

Answer 29

Pre-Contemplation Contemplation Preparation Action Maintenance

Question 30

What is the pre-contemplation stage of change?

Answer 30

It is the stage at which individuals have no intention to change behaviour in the foreseeable future. In most cases, individuals in this stage are unaware or under aware of their problems

Question 31

How should we manage individuals who are in the pre-contemplation stage of change?

Answer 31

We should advise patients that they can access healthcare advice at any point if they would like to consider change

Question 32

What is the contemplation stage of change?

Answer 32

It is the stage in which individuals are aware that a problem exists and are considering about overcoming it, however, have not made a commitment to take action

Question 33

How should we manage individuals who are in the contemplation stage of change?

Answer 33

We should provide patients with information to action change

Question 34

What is the preparation stage of change?

Answer 34

It is the stage in which individuals intend to take action in the next month and have actively made a plan to conduct this

Question 35

How should we manage individuals who are in the preparation stage of change?

Answer 35

We should encourage this behaviour by building the patient’s confidence and motivation

Question 36

What is the action stage of change?

Answer 36

It is the stage in which individuals modify their behaviour, experiences or environment in order to overcome their problems

Question 37

How should we manage individuals who are in the action stage of change?

Answer 37

We should develop strategies to maintain goals and assist patients when failure is encountered

Question 38

What is the maintenance stage of change?

Answer 38

It is the stage in which individuals work to prevent relapse and consolidate the gains attained during action