Psychological Therapies Psychotherapy Interaction between a trained therapist

Psychological Therapies

Psychotherapy • Interaction between a trained therapist and someone suffering from psychological difficulties. 3 Types of Treatment Categories Insight Therapies – gives insight and understanding into persons condition • client driven Behavior Therapies – therapist directed • tries to influence and correct maladaptive (disruptive) behavior Biomedical Therapies – therapy though medication or surgery

Eclectic Approach • it is basically a smorgasbord • therapist combines techniques from different schools of psychology depending on the problem

Different Therapy Techniques Correspond to Different Psychological approaches • • • Example Psychodynamic Humanistic Cognitive Behaviorist

Psychoanalysis • Freud's therapy. • Main goal is to dig up the past to clarify the present • Uses free association, hypnosis and dream interpretation to gain insight into the client’s unconscious.

Psychoanalytic Methods • To help someone therapists must overcome resistance – blocking from consciousness and therapist anxiety causing material – Often will use a defense mechanism

Transference • Clients relate to their therapist as they would to important figures in their past – They literally “transfer” their feelings and emotions from someone they have unconscious feelings toward onto their therapist Example: A client who is resentful about her mother’s authority over her might show angry, rebellious behavior toward therapist

Humanistic Therapy • Main goals… • Personal responsibility • Potential for self-actualization • The present and future • And conscious thoughts

Most widely used Humanistic technique is: Client Centered Therapy • Developed by Carl Rogers • Is nondirective • therapist does not direct the course and pace of therapy – the client does • How Does Client Centered Therapy Work? ? • creates and environment of UPR • provides a supportive emotional environment through AGE WHY?

What is Active Listening? ? • Empathetic listening where the listener echoes, restates and clarifies. • Central to Roger’s client-centered therapy

Behavior Therapies • Applies learning principles to eliminate unwanted behaviors. • Believes that behaviors are the problems – so we must change the behaviors. Uses both classical and operant conditioning techniques

Classical Conditioning Techniques Counterconditioning: • conditions new responses to stimuli that previously triggered unwanted behaviors (responses) – i. e. tries to undo conditioning with new conditioning Two Types: Systematic Desensitization and Aversion Therapy

Systematic Desensitization • Gradually reduces anxiety through a step by step process – Associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli. How would I use systematic desensitization to reduce my fear of old women?

Systematic Desensitization Progressive Relaxation Exposure Therapy Flooding

Virtual Technology Exposure Therapy

Aversion Therapy • associates an unpleasant state with an unwanted behavior. How would putting an unappetizing substance on the fingernails of a nail biter effect their behavior?

Aversive Conditioning

Operant Conditioning Techniques Token Economy an operant conditioning procedure that rewards or reinforces a desired behavior. A patient exchanges a token of some sort, earned for exhibiting the desired behavior, for various privileges or treats.

Cognitive Therapy “Our thinking colors our feelings” Almost half of all psychologists who conduct therapy say they use some sort of cognitive type

Cognitive Therapies • teaches people new, ways of thinking, acting and viewing their world • Correct distorted thinking – Try to change your schema • Clients learn how to identify negative thoughts they make about the world and how to consider other interpretations of events

Cognitive Therapy Have to Change this

Albert Ellis • Another big dog in cognitive therapy • Created Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) – If you think rationally about your fears you can overcome them • Say that you have a social phobia that might cause you embarrassment (speaking in class for example and everyone laughing) – By using REBT, REBT a therapist would question both the likelihood of such embarrassment occurring and the impact that would result – the goal would be to show you that it is unlikely to occur and if it did, it would be no big deal

Aaron Beck • The most famous Cognitive Therapist • Noticed that depressed people were similar in the way they viewed the world. • Would often say…”we have to take the dark sunglasses of depression off and see the world for the bright, wonderful place it is. ” • Explained depression using the Cognitive Triad – People with depression often have irrationally negative beliefs about three areas of their lives – People’s beliefs about themselves – Their worlds – And their futures

Group and Family Therapies

Group and Family Therapies • Clients may benefit from knowing others with similar problems and from getting feedback and reassurance – AA • Therapy that treats the family as a system – no person is an island, that we live and grow in relation to others, especially our family • Often views an individual’s unwanted behaviors as influenced by or directed at other family members • Attempts to guide families toward positive relationships and improved communication