Essentials of Psychology by Saul Kassin CHAPTER 14

Essentials of Psychology, by Saul Kassin CHAPTER 14: Treatment © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Treatment Psychological Therapies Perspectives on Psychotherapy Medical Interventions Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Psychological Therapies Professionals Involved in Therapy • Clinical Psychologists – Ph. D. in psychology, conduct testing, diagnosis, treatment, and research • Counseling Psychologists – Ph. D. in counseling, help people with marital, family, and minor adjustment problems Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Psychological Therapies Professionals Involved in Therapy • Psychiatrists – M. D. , do a residency in psychiatry and can prescribe medications • Psychiatric Social Workers – Master’s degree in social work with special training in counseling Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Psychological Therapies Psychoanalytic Therapies • Uncovering, resolving unconscious conflicts • Orthodox Psychoanalysis – Free association – Dream Analysis – Resistance – Transference • Brief Psychoanalytic Therapy Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Psychological Therapies Psychoanalytic Therapies • Free association – A basic technique of psychoanalysis in which the patient says whatever comes to mindfreely and without censorship • Resistance – The tendency for patients to actively block, or “resist, ” psychologically painful insights • Transference – The tendency of patients to displace intense feelings for others onto therapist Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Psychological Therapies Behavioral Therapies • Behavioral-therapy or Cognitivebehavioral Therapy – Techniques used to modify disordered thoughts, feelings, and behaviors through the principles of learning – Classical Conditioning Techniques • Flooding, Systematic Desensitization, Aversion Therapy – Operant-Conditioning Techniques • Reward and Punishment, Token Economy, Biofeedback, Social Skills Training Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Psychological Therapies Behavioral Therapies • Classical-Conditioning Techniques – Flooding • Technique in which the patient is saturated with a fear-provoking stimulus until the anxiety is extinguished – Systematic Desensitization • Technique used to treat anxiety disorders by pairing gradual exposure to an anxiety-provoking situation with relaxation Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Psychological Therapies Behavioral Therapies • Classical-Conditioning Techniques – Aversion Therapy • Technique for classically conditioned people to react with aversion to alcohol and other harmful substances Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Psychological Therapies Behavioral Therapies Aversion Therapy to Treat Alcoholism • Alcohol is paired with a chemical that causes nausea and vomiting. • Person should learn to associate alcohol with nausea. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Psychological Therapies Behavioral Therapies • Operant-Conditioning Techniques – Reward and Punishment • Token Economy – Biofeedback • Procedure in which people learn to control physiological responses with the help of “feedback” about their internal states – Social Skills Training • Used to teach interpersonal skills through modeling, rehearsal, and reinforcement (e. g. , assertiveness training) Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Psychological Therapies Behavioral Therapies Biofeedback and the Tension Headache • Sensors on the head detect muscle activity. • System converts signal to visual display. • Patient watches the display, learns to relax forehead muscles. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Psychological Therapies Cognitive Therapies • Cognitive Therapy – A form of psychotherapy in which people are taught to think in more adaptive ways – Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy • A form of cognitive therapy in which people are confronted with their irrational, maladaptive beliefs – Beck’s Cognitive Therapy • Uses a gentler, more collaborative approach to cognitive therapy Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Psychological Therapies Cognitive Therapies Ellis’ A-B-C Theory of Emotional Distress • Emotional distress is caused by irrational thoughts and self-defeating beliefs. – Activating Event - Beliefs - Consequences • Emotional consequences then help sustain the irrational beliefs. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Psychological Therapies Humanistic Therapies • Removing impediments to personal growth • Person-Centered Therapy – Involves a warm and accepting environment to foster self-insight and acceptance – Founded by Carl Rogers – Therapists show empathy, unconditional positive regard, and use reflection • Gestalt Therapy – Therapy in which clients are aggressively prompted to express their feelings – Founded by Fritz Perls Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Psychological Therapies Humanistic Therapies Group-Therapy Approaches • Group Therapy – The simultaneous treatment of several clients in a group setting – Each approach to psychotherapy has a form of group therapy. • Family Therapy – Form of psychotherapy that treats the members of a family as an interactive system Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Perspectives on Psychotherapy Does Psychotherapy Work? The Benefits of Psychotherapy • Based on the results of 475 studies (Smith et al. , 1980), the average psychotherapy client shows more improvement than 80% of those in the no-treatment control group. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Perspectives on Psychotherapy Improvement in Psychotherapy The More The Better? • With additional therapy sessions, the percentage of people who improve increases up to 26 sessions. • Rate of improvement then levels off. • At one session per week, six months appears to be the ideal of amount of time. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Perspectives on Psychotherapy Are Some Therapies Better Than Others? • All approaches are equally effective. • However for some disorders, certain types of therapy tend to be more successful. – Examples: behavioral therapy for phobias, person-centered therapy for raising self-esteem, and cognitive therapy for depression • There is no universal “best” type of therapy. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Perspectives on Psychotherapy What are the Active Ingredients? • Three common, nonspecific factors are apparent in all types of psychotherapy. – Supportive Relationship – A Ray of Hope • Placebo Effect (the curative effect of an inactive treatment that results simply from the patient’s belief in its therapeutic value) operates but it is not as effective as real psychotherapy. – Opportunity to Open Up Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Perspectives on Psychotherapy What is the Future of Psychotherapy? Orientations of Psychotherapists Eclectic: Borrowing ideas and techniques from different approaches Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Medical Interventions Drug Therapies • Psychopharmacology – The study of the effects of drugs on psychological processes and disorders Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Medical Interventions Drug Therapies Antipsychotic Drugs & Hospitalization Trends Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Medical Interventions Types of Drug Treatments • Antianxiety Drugs – Tranquilizing medications used in the treatment of anxiety – Trade names: Librium, Valium, Xanax, Bu. Spar • Antidepressants – Drugs that relieve depression by increasing the supply of norepinephrine, serotonin, or dopamine – Trade names: Tofranil, Prozac Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Medical Interventions Types of Drug Treatments • Mood Stabilizer – Calms mania; may reduce bipolar mood swings – Trade Name: Lithium Carbonate • A drug used to control mania and mood swings in people with bipolar disorder • Antipsychotic Drugs – Drugs used to control the positive symptoms of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders – Trade names: Thorazine, Clozaril, Risperdal Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Medical Interventions Perspectives on Drug Therapies • Drugs have helped numerous people who once lived in psychiatric institutions. • People may not respond well to psychotherapy. • However, some drugs produce unpleasant or dangerous side effects and may lead to a physical and/or psychological addiction. – Thus, patients become passive in the healing process. • Neither psychotherapy nor drug therapy has been found to be generally more effective. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

Medical Interventions • Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) – Electric-shock treatments that often relieve severe depression by triggering seizures in the brain • Psychosurgery – The surgical removal of portions of the brain for the purpose of treating psychological disorders Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing

How To: Beat the Winter Blues Seasonal Differences in SAD • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is depression linked to certain times of year. – Symptoms are lethargy, withdrawal, increases in sleeping and eating • People with SAD feel even worse than most people do in the winter. • Light therapy can ease their suffering. Kassin, Essentials of Psychology - © 2004 Prentice Hall Publishing