Psychological Treatment Chalalai taesilapasathit Faculty of liberal arts, Thammasat university

Introduction Psychotherapy: Treatment in which a trained professional, called a therapist, uses psychological techniques to help a person overcome psychological difficulties and disorders, resolve problems in living, or bring about personal growth Biomedical therapy: Therapy that relies on drugs and other medical procedures to improve psychological functioning

Psychodynamic, Behavioral, and Cognitive Approaches to Treatment What are the goals of psychologically based and biologically based treatment approaches? What are the psychodynamic, behavioral, and cognitive approaches to treatment?

Psychodynamic Approaches to Therapy Seeks to bring unresolved past conflicts and unacceptable impulses from the unconscious into the conscious Based on Freud’s psychoanalytic approach to personality Defense mechanisms Psychosexual stages of development

Psychoanalysis: Freud’s Therapy Goal is to release hidden unconscious thoughts and feelings in order to reduce their power in controlling behavior Free association Dream interpretation Manifest content - The surface description of a dream Latent content - Underlying meaning

Contemporary Psychodynamic Approaches Less emphasis on a patient’s past history, concentrating instead on current relationships and specific complaints Shorter duration 3 months or 20 sessions

Evaluating Psychodynamic Therapy Criticisms: Time consuming and expensive Less articulate patients may not do as well as more articulate ones Difficulty in determining effectiveness of the therapy Bias Subjective interpretation

Behavioral Approaches to Therapy Approaches that make use of the basic processes of learning, such as reinforcement and extinction, to reduce or eliminate maladaptive behavior Based on the fundamental assumption that both abnormal behavior and normal behavior are learned Goal is to change people’s behavior to allow them to function more effectively

Classical Conditioning Treatments Aversive conditioning: Reduces the frequency of undesired behavior by pairing with an aversive stimulus

Operant Conditioning Techniques Rewards a person for desired behavior with a token Token system Agreement is drawn stating the behavioral goals the client hopes to achieve Contingency contracting Behavior of other people is modeled, to systematically teach people new skills Observational learning

Evaluating Behavior Therapy Benefits: Eliminates anxiety disorders Treats phobias and compulsions Establishes control over impulses Helps in learning complex social skills to replace maladaptive behavior Criticisms: Insight into thoughts and expectations cannot be gained due to the changing external behavior

Cognitive Approaches to Therapy Cognitive treatment approaches: Teach people to think in more adaptive ways by changing their dysfunctional cognitions about the world and themselves

Cognitive Approaches to Therapy Cognitive-behavioral approach: Incorporates basic principles of learning to change the way people think Therapists attempt to change the way people think as well as their behavior Therapy is highly structured and focuses on concrete problems

Cognitive Approaches to Therapy Cognitive behavior therapy: Aaron Beck Aims to change people’s illogical thoughts about themselves and the world Cognitive appraisal - Evaluation of situations, in terms of one’s memories, values, beliefs, thoughts, and expectations

Evaluating Cognitive Approaches to Therapy Benefits: Deals with a broad range of disorders Willingness of cognitive therapists to incorporate additional treatment approaches Criticisms: Changing one’s assumptions to make them more reasonable and logical may not always be helpful

Humanistic, Person-centered, and Group Approaches to Treatment What are the humanistic approaches to treatment? What is interpersonal therapy? How does group therapy differ from individual types of therapy? How effective is psychotherapy, and which kind of psychotherapy works best in a given situation?

Humanistic Therapy Therapy in which the underlying rationale is that people have control of their behavior, can make choices about their lives, and are essentially responsible for solving their own problems Self-actualization - State of self fulfillment in which people realize their highest potentials in their own unique way

Person-Centered Therapy Goal is to reach one’s potential for self- actualization Also referred as client-centered therapy Unconditional positive regard Expressing acceptance and understanding, regardless of the feelings and attitudes the client expresses Understanding client’s emotional experiences

Evaluating Humanistic Approaches to Therapy Benefits: The idea that psychological disorders result from restricted growth potential is compelling to many people Supportive environment Criticisms: Treatments lack specificity Least scientifically and theoretically developed Works only for highly verbal client who profits most from psychoanalytic treatment

Group Therapies

Group Therapies Therapy in which people meet in a group with a therapist to discuss problems Centers on a common difficulty Example - Alcoholism Economical means of therapy compared to individual therapy Criticism - Shy and withdrawn individuals may not receive required attention

Group Therapies Family therapy: Focuses on the family and its dynamics Involves two or more family members, one (or more) of whose problems led to treatment Self-help therapy: Does not involve a professional therapist People with similar problems get together to discuss their shared feelings and experiences Bereavement support group Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

Effectiveness of Psychotherapy For most people it is effective Psychotherapy does not work for everyone No single form of therapy works best for every problem Specific types of treatment are better for specific types of problems Most therapies share several basic similar elements Development of positive relationship between client and therapist Explanation or interpretation of a client’s symptoms Confrontation of negative emotions

Estimates of the Effectiveness of Different Types of Treatment

Community Psychology: Focus on Prevention Prevent or minimize the incidence of psychological disorders Deinstitutionalization: Transfer of former mental patients out of institutions and into the community

Choosing the Right Therapist You should feel comfortable with your therapist Therapists should have appropriate training and credentials You should feel that you are making progress after therapy has begun, despite occasional setbacks