Introduction to Psychology Therapy Psychotherapy

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Introduction to Psychology

• Therapy

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Psychotherapy

• Def. general term given all forms of therapy
  which
• Attempt to help a person improve his/her
  psychological well-being and
• Help one better adjust to lifes situations
• Biggest key to helping individuals
• Patients desire to get better

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Does Therapy Work?

• Research indicates that about 66 of people who
  underwent therapy showed marked improvement
• Problem
• About the same percentage of untreated
  individuals also showed marked improvement over
  the course of time
• Spontaneous recovery

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Therapies

• Therapists use one of two approaches
• Eclectic approach
• Specific theoretical approach

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Psychoanalysis

• Founder Sigmund Freud
• Key belief Psych. problems are result of
• Childhood experiences
• Repressed impulses
• Conflicts between structures in the unconscious
  mind (id, ego and superego)

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Psychoanalysis

• Therapists job
• Help client bring into consciousness the problems
  of the past, thereby allowing the client to gain
  self-insight
• Once the client has gained insight, s/he can
  resolve the conflict and become a more fully
  functioning person

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Techniques Used to Unearth the Past

• Free association patient freely talks about a
  dream, event or memory
• Resistance blocking anxiety laden material from
  entering the conscious mind
• Interpretation
• Given in the form of suggestions so that the
  client believes s/he unearthed the problem
• Transference

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Techniques Used to Unearth the Past

• Dreams the royal road to the unconscious
• Have two types of content
• Manifest
• Latent
• Latent content provides clues as to what the
  person is repressing
• The analyst, through dream analysis, helps the
  client uncover the true meaning of the dream

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Cognitive Therapies

• Therapies which teach people new, more adaptive
  ways of thinking/acting
• Based on the assumption that thoughts intervene
  between events and our emotional reactions

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Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT)

• Founded by Albert Ellis
• Therapy which vigorously challenges peoples
  illogical, self-defeating attitudes and
  assumptions
• Many people view emotional reactions as
• Activating events ? emotional reactions
• Ellis suggests activating events ? irrational
  beliefs ? emotional reaction

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Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT)

• We must rid ourselves of irrational beliefs and
  replace them with rational ones
• Irrational I have to get an A in this class or
  my family and friends will think Im stupid
• Rational It would be nice to get an A in this
  class but people will still think well of me even
  if I dont

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Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT)

• Ellis therapy tries to show how absurd these
  self-defeating thoughts are
• The therapist will challenge the clients beliefs
• Tries to show the client that s/he is in control
  of what s/he is thinking
• Client is taught to monitor their beliefs and
  emotions and to substitute real, positive beliefs

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Cognitive Therapy

• Founded by Aaron Beck
• Particularly effective in treating depression
• Similar to REBT, clients irrational beliefs are
  confronted (though not as strongly)
• Homework assignments are often used
• Client is told to go out with friends and, upon
  returning home, make notes of how things went
• Client put in situations where s/he will succeed

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Humanistic Therapy

• Aim raise self-fulfillment by helping people
  grow in self-awareness and self-acceptance
• Focus is on
• The present instead of the past
• Conscious rather than unconscious thoughts
• Taking responsibility for ones actions
• Promoting growth instead of curing illness

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Person-centered Therapy

• Founded by Carl Rogers
• Most widely used humanistic therapy
• Brief summary uses techniques within a genuine,
  accepting, empathic environment in order to
  facilitate a clients growth
• A person will not be blocked from
  self-fulfillment if s/he is in a state of
  congruence

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Techniques Employed in Therapy

• Active listening
• Genuineness
• Unconditional positive regard
• Empathy
• Bottom line the therapist should provide a
  nonjudgmental, grace-filled environment so that
  clients can accept their worst traits and feel
  valued and whole

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Behavior Therapies

• Therapies that apply learning principles to
  eliminate unwanted behaviors
• Goal replace problem thoughts/behaviors with
  constructive ones
• Belief disorders are thoughts/behaviors learned
  through reinforcement and or modeling

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Behavioral Techniques

• Virtual reality exposure therapy
• Head mounted display that projects 3-D images
• Systematic desensitization
• Gradual exposure/flooding
• Modeling
• Social skills and assertiveness training
• Aversion therapy
• Associates unpleasant state with unwanted behavior

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Behavioral Techniques

• Operant conditioning techniques
• Use of reinforcement to maintain desired
  behaviors
• Token economy in institutions
• Removal of a reinforcer to eliminate undesirable
  behaviors
• Taking away privileges in the hopes the person
  will stop the unwanted behavior

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Biomedical TherapiesDrug Therapy

• Psychopharmacology study of the effects of
  drugs on the mind and behavior
• Antianxiety drugs
• Depress CNS activity, thereby reducing tension
  and anxiety
• Most heavily prescribed and abused drugs
• When used properly, can help a person learn to
  cope with fear-triggering stimuli

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Biomedical TherapiesDrug Therapy

• Antipsychotic drugs
• Provide the most help by dampening responsiveness
  to irrelevant stimuli
• Hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, etc.
• Is believed these drugs work by blocking dopamine
  and serotonin receptors
• Side effects tardive dyskinesia

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Biomedical TherapiesDrug Therapy

• Mood stabilizers antidepressants
• Lithium provides an effective treatment for up to
  50 of people with bipolar disorder
• Antidepressants (Prozac, Nardil, etc.)
• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
  blocks reuptake of serotonin, increasing
  availability
• Monamine oxidase inhibitors (MAO inhibitors)
  prevents breakdown of norepinephrine and
  serotonin in the synapses, increasing availability

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Electroconvulsive Therapy(ECT)

• Involves the passing of electric shocks through
  the brain
• Patients receive an anesthetic and a muscle
  relaxant to prevent injury from convulsions
• Psychiatrist shocks brain for lt 1 second
• Within 30 min., the patient awakes with no
  recollection of treatment, but is a little
  confused

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Electroconvulsive Therapy(ECT)

• Generally only used on those who are severely
  depressed
• Is used only as a last resort
• After all other therapies have failed
• After 3-5 treatments/wk, for 2-4 weeks, about 80
  show a marked improvement without noticeable
  brain damage
• Why does it work? Dont know

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Psychosurgery The Prefrontal Lobotomy

• Egaz Moniz founded the operation in 1936
• Received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949
• Was once used to calm uncontrollable emotional or
  violent patients
• Done by cutting the nerves that connect the
  frontal lobes to the thalamus and hypothalamus
  (emotion-controlling centers of the brain)

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Psychosurgery The Prefrontal Lobotomy

• Today, lobotomies are extremely rare and are
  usually used to stop uncontrollable seizures,
  depression, OCD, etc.
• Doctors today are able to deactivate specific
  nerve clusters, thereby causing less damage
• Like ECT, it is used mainly as a last resort