Psychology in Action (9e) Chapter 15: Therapy

Introductory Definitions Psychotherapy: techniques employed to improve psychological functioning & promote adjustment to life Three major approaches to therapy: Insight (personal understanding) Behavior (maladaptive behaviors) Biomedical (mental illness & medical treatments, such as drugs)

Four Major Forms of Insight Therapy Psychoanalysis/psychodynamic Humanistic Cognitive Group, Family, & Marital

Insight Therapies: Psychoanalysis/Psychodynamic Psychoanalysis: Freudian therapy designed to bring unconscious conflicts into consciousness

Insight Therapies: Psychoanalyis/Psychodynamic Five major techniques of psychoanalysis:

Insight Therapies: Psychoanalysis/Psychodynamic Evaluation of psychoanalysis: limited applicability & lack of scientific credibility Psychodynamic Therapy: briefer, more directive, & more modern form of psychoanalysis focusing on conscious processes & current problems

Insight Therapies: Cognitive Cognitive Therapy: focuses on faulty thinking & beliefs Improvement comes from insight into negative self-talk (internal dialogue) Cognitive Restructuring: process of changing destructive thoughts or inappropriate interpretations

Insight Therapies: Cognitive (Continued) Albert Ellis’s Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT): eliminates emotional problems through rational examination of irrational beliefs Aaron Beck’s form of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy works to change both thoughts & behaviors

Ellis’s Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)

Beck’s Cognitive-Behavior Therapy Depressive thought patterns: selective perception overgeneralization magnification all-or-nothing thinking

Insight Therapies: Cognitive (Continued) Evaluation of cognitive therapy Pro: Considerable success with a range of problems Con: Criticized for overemphasizing rationality, ignoring unconscious dynamics, minimizing importance of the past, etc.

Insight Therapies: Humanistic Humanistic therapy: maximizes personal growth through affective restructuring (emotional readjustment) Key assumption: Problems = blockage or disruption of normal growth potential, which leads to a defective self-concept.

Insight Therapies: Humanistic (Cont.) Rogers’s Client-Centered Therapy: emphasizes client’s natural tendency to become healthy & productive Techniques include: empathy unconditional positive regard genuineness active listening

Insight Therapies: Humanistic (Continued) Evaluation of humanistic therapy Pro: Evidence for success Con: Basic tenets, such as self-actualization, difficult to test scientifically

Insight Therapies: Group, Family, & Marital Therapies Group Therapy: a number of people meet together to work toward therapeutic goals Family & Marital Therapies: work to change maladaptive family & couple interaction patterns

Behavior Therapies Behavior Therapy: group of techniques based on learning principles used to change maladaptive behaviors Three foundations of behavior therapy: classical conditioning operant conditioning observational learning

Behavior Therapies: Classical Conditioning Systematic Desensitization: gradual process of extinguishing a learned fear (or phobia) by working through a hierarchy of fearful stimuli while remaining relaxed

Behavior Therapies: Classical Conditioning & Driving Phobia

Behavior Therapies: Classical Conditioning Aversion Therapy: pairing an aversive (unpleasant) stimulus with a maladaptive behavior

Behavior Therapies: Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning techniques used to INCREASE adaptive behaviors: Shaping: successive approximations of target behavior are rewarded; includes role-playing, behavior rehearsal, assertiveness training Tokens: symbolic rewards used to immediately reinforce desired behavior

Behavior Therapies: Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning techniques used to DECREASE maladaptive behaviors: Extinction: withdrawal of attention Punishment: adding or taking away something (e.g., time-out)

Behavior Therapies: Observational Learning Modeling: watching & imitating models that demonstrate desirable behaviors Participant Modeling: combining live modeling with direct & gradual practice ©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010

Behavior Therapies (Continued) Evaluation of behavior therapies: Pro: Strong evidence for success with a wide range of problems Con: Questioned & criticized for generalizability & ethics

Biomedical Therapies Biomedical Therapy: uses physiological interventions, such as drugs, to treat psychological disorders Three forms of biomedical therapy: Psychopharmacology Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) Psychosurgery

Biomedical Therapies: Psychopharmacology Four major categories of drugs: Antianxiety (increases relaxation, reduces anxiety & muscle tension) Antipsychotic (treats hallucinations & other symptoms of psychosis) Mood Stabilizer (treats manic episodes & depression) Antidepressant (treats symptoms of depression)

Psychopharmacology— How Antidepressants Work

Biomedical Therapies (Continued) Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT): based on passing electrical current through the brain; used almost exclusively when other methods have failed Psychosurgery: operative procedures on the brain designed to relieve severe mental symptoms that have not responded to other forms of treatment

Therapy & Critical Thinking Therapy Essentials--Five Common Goals

Therapy & Critical Thinking: Institutionalization Institutionalization—criteria for involuntary commitment: dangerous to self or others believed to be in serious need of treatment no reasonable alternatives

Therapy & Critical Thinking: Institutionalization (Continued) Deinstitutionalization: discharging as many people as possible from state hospitals & discouraging admissions Community services such as community mental health (CMH) centers work to cope with problems of deinstitutionalization.