Therapies
Approaches to therapy
Psychotherapy:
- Talk-based therapy
- Brings out positive change
Medical:
- Medications and other biological treatments
Insight vs Action
Insight: Promote understanding of origins of disorder
Action: Directly change problems without insight Into their origins
Directive vs Non-directive
Directive: Therapist leads client toward resolution of difficulties
Non-directive: Therapist supports client while client gains insight into, and finds solution to problems
Characteristics and techniques of psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis (Freud)
- Personality results from intrapsychic conflicts between id, ego and superego
- Ego is the mediator
- open-ended duration
Goal is to promote insight into these intrapsychic conflicts
Psychoanalytic techniques
Free association: Saying whatever comes to mind consciously without censorship
Interpretation (directive technique): Interprets clues in the words spoken in free association or recalling dreams
Analysis of resistance
Resistance when client is reluctant to continue with the topic of free association
Analysis of transference
Transfer thoughts and feelings from other past relationships onto the therapist
- Transfering anger from parents to therapist
Psychodynamic therapies
Common elements: Insight therapies, understanding the present in terms of the past
Differences:
- Focus less on intraphychic conflicts and more on social relationships
- Therapist and client face to face
- Much shorter duration
Interpersonal psychotherapy
- Focus on one or two interpersonal problems (a breakup or divorce)
- Promote insight into how interpersonal style affects current relationships
- Interpersonal style develops based on past relationships with parents ex neglect as a child
- Build supportive relationships with new skills and insights gained through therapy
Client-centered therapy
Carl rogers
- Humanistic psychotherapy
- Insigh therapy
- Nondirective (client decides what they want to talk about)
- Rogers believed the client knows best how to heal themselves
Techniques of client-centered therapy
Unconditional positive regard: promote self-acceptance
Authenticity: promotes self-acceptance
Empathy: promote self-understanding
Active listening: promote self-understanding
Behavior therapy
Actively change behavior by applying learning principles
Behavior modification:
- Change maladaptive behavior through principles of classical or operant conditioning
Exposure therapy
Based on classical conditioning
Goal: extinguish conditioned fear by breaking association between CS and UCS
(rat and loud noise example)
Cognitive therapy
- Identify automatice, negative thoughts
- Replace negative thoughts with more realistic positive ones
- Directive; time-limited (10-20 1 hour sessions)
Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Incorporates cognitive therapy techniques with behavioral techniques
- Relabelling (cognitive)
- Refocusing (behavioral)
- Directive, time-limited, individual or group therapy
Antipyshcotics
Example: thorazine
Effects: Reduce hallucinations and delusions
Mode of action: Alter dopamine and serotonin effects
Antianxiety
Examples: Xanax, ativan
Effects: Dampen arousal and reduce anxiety
Mode of action: Enhance effects of GABA
Antidepressants
Example: Prozac
Effects: Reduce depression and sometimes anxiety
Mode of action: Enhance serotonin and dopamine
Mood stabilizers
Example: Litium
Effects: Couteract bipolar disorder
Mode of action: Unclear
Stimulants
Example: Adderall
Effects: Reduce ADHD symptoms
Mode of action: Enhance effects of norepinephrine and dopamine
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
- Electrical current to brain stimulates seizures
- Used to treat severe depression, for clients unresponsive to antidepressant medication
- Effects dont last too long
- Short term benefit
- Impaired short term memory
What factors make psychotherapy effective (4)
- Offer a protective setting
- Theraputic alliance (strong relationship between client and therapist)
- Hope
- Clients gain a new perspective and understanding