Understanding Different Types of Psychotherapies: A Comprehensive Guide, Study notes of Introduction to Psychology

Download Understanding Different Types of Psychotherapies: A Comprehensive Guide and more Study notes Introduction to Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Therapy Insight Therapies A variety of individual psychotherapies designed to give people a better awareness and understanding of their feelings, motivations, and actions in the hope that this will help them adjust. • psychoanalysis • client-centered therapy • gestalt therapy Psychoanalysis • Based on the belief that anxiety and other problems are symptoms of inner conflicts stemming from childhood • free association: A technique that encourages the patient to talk without inhibition about whatever thoughts or fantasies come to mind • transference: The patient’s carrying over to the analyst feelings held toward childhood authority figures • insight: Awareness of previously unconscious feelings and memories and how they influence present feelings and behavior Client-Centered Therapy • Nondirectional form of therapy developed by Carl Rogers that calls for unconditional positive regard of the client by the therapist with the goal of helping the client become fully functioning “Client” vs. “Patient” • Rogers used the term client rather than patient to highlight the more active and equal role he assigned to the person seeking therapy Role of the Therapist • Rogers emphasized understanding life from the client’s point of view • A therapist must be nondirective and reflect back to the client what he/she has said Gestalt Therapy • A therapy that emphasizes the wholeness of the personality and attempts to reawaken people to their emotions and sensations in the here-and-now Docsity.com • Fritz Perls encouraged face-to-face confrontations to help people become more genuine or “real” in their day-to-day interactions • The therapist is active and directive Behavior Therapies • Therapeutic approaches that are based on the belief that all behavior is learned, and that the objective of therapy is to teach people new, more satisfying ways of behaving • classical conditioning • operant conditioning • modeling Use of Classical Conditioning • systematic desensitization: A technique for reducing fear and anxiety by gradually associating a new response (relaxation) with stimuli that have been causing the fear and anxiety • flooding: A method of desensitization through intense and prolonged exposure to anxiety-producing stimuli • aversive conditioning: Techniques aimed at eliminating undesirable behavior patterns by teaching the person to associate them with pain and discomfort Use of Operant Conditioning • behavior contracting: The client and therapist set behavioral goals and agree on reinforcements the client will receive upon reaching those goals • token economy: Patients earn tokens (reinforcers) for desired behaviors and exchange them for desired items or privileges Modeling • A behavior therapy in which the person learns desired behaviors by watching others perform those behaviors Cognitive Therapies • Emphasize changing clients’ perceptions of their life situation as a way of modifying their behavior • stress-inoculation therapy • rational-emotive-therapy • Beck’s cognitive therapy Docsity.com convulsions and temporary coma; used to treat severe, prolonged depression • The reason ECT works remains unknown Psychosurgery • Brain surgery performed to change a person’s behavior and emotional state (e.g., prefrontal lobotomy) • This therapy is rarely used today Deinstitutionalization • The policy of treating people with severe psychological disorders in the community rather than in large public hospitals Problems with Deinstitutionalization  Community mental-health centers are poorly funded or non-existent  Ex-patients are poorly prepared to live in the community  Not enough housing available  Social stigma of having a mental disorder  Large insurance companies discourage outpatient care Types of Mental Illness Prevention • primary prevention • secondary prevention • tertiary prevention Primary Prevention • Techniques and programs to improve the social environment so that new cases of mental disorders do not develop Secondary Prevention • Programs to identify groups that are at high risk for mental disorders and to detect maladaptive behavior in these groups and treat it properly Tertiary Prevention • Programs to help people adjust to community life after release from a mental hospital Docsity.com Gender Differences in Treatment • Women are more likely than men to be in psychotherapy • Psychotherapy is more socially accepted for women than men • Traditionally, women have received a disproportionate share of psychotropic drugs Cultural Differences in Treatment • Our ideas of what constitutes normal behavior may not be viewed as normal by another culture • Some psychological disorders only occur within a specific culture Docsity.com