Psychotherapies Flashcards
(46 cards)
What is the topographic theory of the mind?
- Three states
- Unconscious: Includes repressed thoughts that are out of one’s awareness; involves primary process thinking (primitive, pleasure seeking urges)
- Preconscious: contains memories that are easy to bring into awareness
- Conscious: Involves current thoughts and secondary process thinking (logical, mature, delayed gratification)
What is the structural theory of the mind?
- 3 components
- Id: Unconscious; involves instinctual sexual/aggressive urges and primary process thinking
- Ego: Serves as a mediator between the id and external environment and seeks to develop satisfying interpersonal relationships; uses defense mechanisms to control instinctual urges
- Superego: moral conscience
What are defense mechanisms?
- Used by the ego to protect oneself and relieve anxiety by keeping conflicts out of awareness
- Unconscious processes that are normal and healthy when used in moderation
What are the mature defense mechanisms?
- Altruism
- Humor
- Sublimation
- Suppression
What are the neurotic defense mechanisms?
- Controlling
- Displacement
- Intellectualization
- Isolation of affect
- Rationalization
- Reaction Formation
- Repression
What is altruism?
Altruism: Performing acts that benefit others in order to vicariously experience pleasure
What is humor (defense mechanism)?
Expressing feelings through comedy without causing discomfort to others
What is sublimation?
Satisfying socially objectionable impulses in an acceptable manner (channeling them)
What is Suppression?
Purposely ignoring an unacceptable impulse or emotion in order to diminish discomfort and accomplish a task
What is controlling (defense mechanism)?
Regulating situations and events of external environment to relieve anxiety
What is displacement?
Shifting emotions from undesirable situation to one that is personally tolerable
What is intellectualization?
Avoiding negative feelings by excessive use of intellectual functions and by focusing on irrelevant details or inanimate objects
What is isolation of affect?
Unconsciously limiting the experience of feelings/emotions associated with stressful life event
What is rationalization?
Creating explanations of an event in order to justify outcomes or behaviors and to make them acceptable
What is reaction formation?
Doing the opposite of an unacceptable impulse (ex: man in love with woman insults her)
What is repression?
Preventing a thought or feeling from entering consciousness
What is the difference betwen repression and supression?
Repression is unconscious whereas suppression is a conscious act
What are immature defense mechanisms?
- Acting out
- Denial
- Regression
- Projection
What are splitting and undoing?
Types of defense mechanisms
- Splitting: labeling people as all good or all bad (often seen in borderline personality disorder)
- Undoing: Attempting to reverse a situation by adopting a new behavior (ex: man who has brief fantasy of killing his wife by sabotaging her car takes the car in for a complete checkup)
What is acting out?
Giving in to an impulse, even if socially inappropriate, in order to avoid the anxiety of suppressing that impulse
What is denial?
Not accepting reality that is too painful
What is regression?
Performing behaviors from an earlier stage of development in order to avoid tension associated with current phase of development
What is projection?
Attributing objectionable thoughts or emotions to others
What characteristics are seen in patients best suited for psychoanalysis?
- Under age 40
- Not psychotic
- Intelligent
- Stable in relationships and daily living