Psychological Therapies

Question 1

Two big divisions of psychological therapy

Answer 1

psychotherapy and biomedical therapy

Question 2

psychotherapy

Answer 2

talking about problems, includes Insight therapies (aimed at understanding motives and actions) and action therapy (aimed at changing behavior)

Includes psychoanalysis andhumanistic therapy under insight therapies

includes behavior therapy and cognitive therapy under action therapies

Question 3

psychotherapy

Answer 3

talking about problems, includes Insight therapies (aimed at understanding motives and actions) and action therapy (aimed at changing behavior)

Includes psychoanalysis and humanistic therapy under insight therapies

includes behavior therapy and cognitive therapy under action therapies

Question 4

Psychoanalysis

Answer 4

Characteristics:

Dream analysis: unconscious mind emerges in dreams

Free association: unconscious mind emerges in free flowing stream of ideas

Resistance: patients unwilling to talk about certain things means that coming close to repressed material

Transference: patients transfer feelings from childhood to therapist

Question 5

Humanistic therapy

Answer 5

self-reflective, “finding yourselves”, person-centered, Idea of self-actualization, desire to fulfill full human potential
(Hierarchy of needs that have to be met)

Four basic Elements
- Reflection: mirroring statement without interfering with the flow of ideas; Summarizing ideas back to individual

• Unconditional positive regard: creating completely accepting atmosphere
• Empathy: feeling what the client is feeling
• Authenticity: giving genuine, open, and honest responses

Question 6

Action therapies

Answer 6

aimed at changing behavior

What can be done right now to be more adapted, flexible, be able to cope?

About progress

Question 7

Behavior therapy

Answer 7

encouraging positive behaviors and extinguishing the negative; involving the use of learning techniques to change undesirable behavior and increase desirable behavior

Example: modeling, reinforcement(reward), extinction training

Works well with addiction/recovery, phobias

***Also called Behavior modification or Applied behavior Analysis

Want motivation to behave certain way from ourselves(internally), not just from extrinsic factors(outside rewards/from others)

Question 8

Cognitive therapy

Answer 8

changing thought patterns; focused on changing distorted thinking patterns, goal is to help clients think more positively

can help those with ruminating thoughts(such as with anxiety or depression); can help avoid a spiraling pattern

Question 9

Beck’s Cognitive Therapy

Answer 9

testing beliefs to see how accurate they really are; Confrontational; Focuses on pointing out holes in irrational thoughts, pointing out the logistics

Question 10

CBT

Answer 10

cognitive behavior therapy, most practiced

Mixes both cognitive therapy with behaviorism
* Establish positive thinking patterns
* Set up rewards/punishments to change behavior; set up strategies to cope with future behavior

Question 11

Example of use of CBT in real life

Answer 11

take a step in a goal towards social anxiety, focus on the positive thoughts to face this and avoid irrational/negative thoughts, reward of something you enjoy after*

Question 12

Pros and Cons of CBT

Answer 12

**Endorsement: CBT is the most effective form of psychoterhapy anxiety and mood disorders

**Criticism: may be treating symptoms, not underlying causes of problem

Question 13

Sigmund Freud

Answer 13

Austrian physician, Inventor of psychoanalysis; Mental and behavioral problems cause by conflicts between acceptable behavior and unacceptable, unconscious desires

Some people can cope, but some cannot just move past it

Question 14

Biomedical Therapy

Answer 14

medical procedure; Therapy that directly affects biological processing; Most biomedical therapies involve psychopharmacological treatments

Question 15

Antipsychotic drugs(neuroleptics)

Answer 15

blocks dopamine, can reduce hallucinations; prescribed for those dealing with Schizophrenia, sometimes depression if other drugs do not respond, even people dealing with psychotic episodes

conventional Antipsychotics can cause more side effects, while Atypicals are better at blocking dopamine in specific places

Question 16

Antianxiety drugs(anxiolytics):

Answer 16

reduces firing of neurons significantly, especially in amygdala; makes amygdala less likely to be activated

Benzodiazepines (Xanax, Valium, Librium): newer, safer than what was prescribed in history before; increases inhibition, makes GABA more effective (at having less neurons fire)

Question 17

Antidepressant drugs

Answer 17

MAOIs(old): inhibits what breaks down dopamine, serotonin(Problem: need special diet, can cause lethal blood pressure in those who eat cheese!!)

SSRIs (Prozac, Zoloft): Selective serotonin Reuptake inhibitor, selective enhance the amount of serotonin in your brain by blocking reuptake (brain method for recycling); leaves serotonin out there to be used

Question 18

Mood Stabilizing Drugs

Answer 18

Lithium (for bipolar disorder); Discovered in places where there were high amounts of lithium in drinking water

Stabilizes the manic phase, which gets rid of the depressive stage from happening, Effective; Some like to stop taking the drugs because manic phase can be rewarding, so have to be reminded to take it