Chapter 16

unconditional positive regard

According to Carl Rogers, Unconditional Positive Regard is when one person is completely accepting toward another person. This is not just a show of acceptance, but is an attitude that is then demonstrated through behavior. Rogers indicated that for humanistic type of therapy to work, the therapist had to have this for the client. positive regard that is given without conditions or strings attached

Aversive Conditioning

Aversive Conditioning is the use of something unpleasant, or a punishment, to stop an unwanted behavior. If a dog is learning to walk on a leash alongside his owner, an undesired behavior would be when the dog pulls on the leash. The owner may use a collar that delivers a shock when a dog pulls - eventually the dog associates pulling on the leash with getting a painful shock and stops pulling. As with all forms of punishment, it may work but is generally less effective than the use of reinforcement. A form of treatment that consists of repeated pairings of a stimulus with a very unpleasant stimulus A Stimulus that will keep someone from doing something - Albert with the white rats

biomedical therapy

Biomedical therapy, as associated with psychology and psychiatry, includes methods of treatment of mental illnesses by the use of medication or on occasion, surgery. Medical research has proven than many commonplace mental illnesses are the result of brain abnormalities, i.e. neurotransmitter imbalances or insufficiencies or in some cases tumors or electrical malfunctions. Examples of this are the use of antidepressants, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, ADHD meds, etc. the use of certain medications to treat or reduce the symptoms of a mental disorder

cognitive-behavioral therapy

Cognitive Behavioral therapy refers to a classification of psychotherapeutic techniques that emphasize the important role that thinking (cognitive) plays in how we feel and act (behavioral). In other words, what we think of an event determines how we feel, which in turn influences how we behave. Our feelings are not dictated by the event, but are rather determined by the way we think about our situation. For example, if someone were passed over for a promotion, that person could think that it is because her boss didn't like her. This could lead to depression and a lack of motivation to work, which would in turn decrease her chances of being promoted in the future. From the Cognitive Behavioral perspective, her depression is caused by how she interpreted the event, and not by the actual event itself. This means that if she were to change her thinking, it could lead to a better result. Instead of thinking that her boss didn't like her, she could make an honest assessment of her performance and identify specific areas for improvement. Then she would be able to work on improving her weaknesses and increase her chances of being promoted next time. Cognitive Behavioral therapy has been shown to be most effective for anxiety, depression, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, form of psychotherapy that aims to change cognitive distortions and self-defeating behaviors

cognitive therapy

Cognitive therapy is a form of therapy developed by Aaron Beck who suggested that our beliefs and perceptions influence our emotional responses to the world around us. According to cognitive therapy, our negative thought patterns (not unconscious conflicts or early life traumas as psychoanalysis suggests) cause depression, anxiety and some other mental disorders. Cogitive Therapy helps patients by making them aware of these beliefs, how they produce so many problems, and then working to change these dysfunctional beliefs. therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting

confidentiality

Confidentiality is a part of the ethical guidelines of psychologists and means that information between a patient and a therapist cannot be shared with anyone. This applies to patients and any health professional, including doctors and nurses. There are a few exceptions to confidentiality such as the concept of duty to warn which means that confidentiality can be broken if the patient is a threat to themselves (such as being suicidal) or others (threatening to harm another person). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects the confidentiality of health records at a federal level in the United States and includes the confidentiality of therapy and mental health information within it. respecting the privacy of both parties and keeping details secret

counterconditioning

Counterconditioning is a type of therapy based on the principles of classical conditioning that attempts to replace bad or unpleasant emotional responses to a stimulus with more pleasant, adaptive responses. For example, do you remember the case of Little Albert - the boy that John Watson conditioned to fear little white rats? Well, if Watson attempted to "uncondition" the fear response to the rats, he would be engaging in counterconditioning - attempting to replace the unpleasant response (fear) to the rats with a more pleasant response (happiness). replacing an old conditioned response with a new one by changing the unconditioned stimulus

couples therapy

Couples therapy is a type of relationship counseling that focuses on interpersonal issues experienced by two individuals in a committed relationship. This can be long or short-term counseling depending on the issues involved but tends to focus primarily on emotional issues that are harming the relationship. therapy that focuses on the overall relationship and communication skills between two people

dream analysis

Dream Analysis is an approach to psychological understanding that focuses on finding emotional clues and symbols in a person's dreams. This approach comes from the psychoanalytic school of psychology that was pioneered by Freud and Jung and assumes that the human mind and motivations resist being easily understood and that the symbols found in dreams must be properly interpreted in order to gain an understanding of a person's inner mental workings. a technique used by psychoanalysts to interpret the content of patients' dreams

electroconvulsive therapy

ECT (also known as shock therapy) is a type of biomedical therapy in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of a patient in order to produce a chemical change. This treatment, although not practiced commonly, is most often used to treat severely depressed people, and has been shown to work quite effectively. ECT fell out of favor and was perceived as cruel and inhuman, but in recent years has regained some popularity. biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients; a brief electric current is sent through brain

exposure therapy

Exposure Therapy is a form of therapy that is used to treat irrational fears and phobias with gradual and increasing exposure to the feared object. For instance, if a client has a phobia of cats, the therapist might start treatment with showing the client a picture of a cat. When he/she can look at a picture of a cat without feeling anxiety, the therapist may add listening to the sounds a cat makes; meowing and purring, later on the therapy moves on to seeing a live cat from a distance and moves eventually to touching a cat. Through this gradual desensitization process, the client can eventually get over their fears. therapy that confronts clients with what they fear with the goal of reducing the fear

family therapy

Family therapy is a type of therapy in which members of a family are treated. They may not be in the same room at the same time, but the members of the family are all counseled to encourage all members to partake in open communication and healing. For example, when parents are having problems with a child, they may all go to therapy together so that parents can learn about their child's feelings and in turn, the child can learn about his or her parents' feelings. This promotes understanding and empathy that is often the cause of communication problems. treatment of an entire family to resolve and shed light on conflicts

group therapy

Group therapy is a form of psychotherapy that involves one or more therapists working with several people at the same time. This type of therapy is widely available at a variety of locations including private therapeutic practices, hospitals, mental health clinics, and community centers treating a group of people who have similar problems and who meet regularly with a trained counselor

humanistic therapy

Humanistic Therapy is a style of therapy that emphasizes the basic goodness of human beings and their drive for creativity and self-actualization. With its roots heavily in phenomenological and existential thought, it was pioneered by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers who broke with the earlier psychological thinkers like Freud and Skinner whom they felt were overly pessimistic about human nature. treatment focused on increasing awareness of one's self concept

behavior therapy

In 1952, Hans Eysenck coined this term in reference to a type of treatment that focuses on changing or reducing the occurrence of some maladaptive behavior as opposed to simply examining the unconscious conflicts or aspects associated with the maladaptive behavior. So instead of trying to "get to the root of a problem", behavior therapy aims to get rid of the problem regardless of the feelings about the behavior, the underlying causes, etc. In addition, behavior therapy is based on the premise that maladaptive behavior, like adaptive behaviors, are learned, and therefore can be unlearned. Thus, behavior therapies (like systematic desensitization, aversion therapy, and behavior modification) are based on the principles of learning. a treatment process that focuses on changing unwanted behaviors through rewards and reinforcements

individual therapy

Individual therapy (sometimes called "psychotherapy" or "counseling") is a process through which clients work one-on-one with a trained therapist—in a safe, caring, and confidential environment—to explore their feelings, beliefs, or behaviors, work through challenging or influential memories, identify aspects of their lives that they would like to change, better understand themselves and others, set personal goals, and work toward desired change. People seek therapy for a wide variety of reasons, from coping with major life challenges or childhood trauma, to dealing with depression or anxiety, to simply desiring personal growth and greater self-knowledge. A client and therapist may work together for as few as five or six sessions or as long as several years, depending on the client's unique needs and personal goals for therapy. a therapy modality in which an individual client is treated by a single therapist

nondirective therapy

Pace, direction, and termination of therapy are controlled by the client; the therapist acts as a facilitator. The nondirective approach was originated by the American counseling psychologist Carl Rogers in the 1940s and influenced other individual and group psychotherapeutic methods. a type of therapy in which the client rather than the therapist is encouraged to take the lead

play therapy

Play Therapy is therapy for children that utilizes the healing powers of play and creativity to address psychosocial problems. A play therapist uses tools such as story telling, role-playing, puppets, art, and music as well as unstructured play, where the therapist can observe the child in a safe, nurturing environment. Play therapy helps children improve their coping skills, awareness, and self-esteem. therapeutic approach that uses play to help a child cope with emotional distress

free association

Quick, say whatever comes to your mind when I say the word "marriage". Don't limit or try to evaluate your responses, just say everything that pops into your head. This process is a Freudian (psychoanalytic) method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing. a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind

psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud is the most famous developer of this therapy approach. The therapy concentrates on bringing forward repressed unconscious thoughts. Freud believed that the ego and superego spent a considerable amount of energy to keep these feelings and thoughts repressed. It was this repression and the development of defense mechanism that left these hidden conflicts unresolved. Freud thought that these unresolved conflicts prevented normal psychosexual development, which in turn cause personality disorders. One of his most common techniques to bring these thoughts to the consciousness was the use of free association. an insight therapy based on the theory of Freud, emphasizing the revealing of unconscious conflicts

strategic family therapy

Strategic family therapy is a shortened mode of intervention that focuses on specific problems in the family. Family members are encouraged to act as they normally do in everyday interactions. This enables the therapist to determine what is not working and to guide the session toward addressing these issues, says Jose Szapocznik, a clinical psychologist and family therapist. Focus of Treatment This intervention strategy is commonly used with families who engage in unhealthy interactions and who are dealing with adolescent risk behavior. The therapist provides treatment with the view that adopting positive strategies for family functioning will decrease negative behavioral patterns. Other factors that are examined include parenting practices, communication patterns and increasing support between family members. family therapy approach designed to remove barriers to effective communication

systematic desensitization

This is a form of treatment or therapy for phobias, fears, and aversions that people have. The premise is to reduce a person's anxiety responses through counterconditioning - a person who learned to be afraid of something is associating fear with that object or behavior, and the way to eliminate this is to teach the person to replace the feelings of anxiety with feelings of relaxation when the object or behavior is present. This approach is based on conditioning relaxation with the feared object or object of anxiety. For example: A) the fear - fear of dating women B) the client is asked to create a hierarchy of anxiety (what makes the client afraid, from least fear producing to most fear producing). 1) sitting next to a woman in class (least) 2) talking to a woman in class 3) walking with a woman on campus 4) calling a woman on the phone 5) eating a meal with a woman 6) going out on a date with a woman (most) C) the therapist then teaches the client some relaxation technique and then has the client use the relaxation technique when encountering (or just thinking about) the first level (sitting next to a woman in class). Once the client is comfortable with this, they move on to the next level, and so on until the client becomes relaxed and is able to go out on a date with a woman. a technique used in behavior therapy to treat phobias and other behavior problems involving anxiety clients are taught to relax as they are gradually exposed to what they fear in a stepwise manner

transference

Transference is a phenomenon where patients undergoing clinical therapy begin to transfer their feelings of a particular person in their lives to the therapist. For example, the patient may begin to feel the same feelings towards his or her therapist as the patient does for his or her lover. These types of feelings may be positive or negative. The therapist must be aware of this phenomenon and may even be able to use it to help the patient. For example, role playing with the patient. (psychoanalysis) the process whereby emotions are passed on or displaced from one person to another

virtual reality exposure therapy

Virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) is a type of treatment that uses realistic fake aversive stimuli to increase stress resilience and control negative symptoms. VRET is used in treatment for phobias, anxiety disorders, addictions, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Patients can be 'exposed' to the fearful stimuli in a way that seems real but isn't. The patient adapts to the stimulus and the fear response and negative reactions decrease. For PTSD as a result of military action the patient will describe the environment to the therapist. A computer program will create a similar landscape where the situations occurred. Audio, vibrations, and even smells are used in order to make the virtual environment as close to the real one as possible. The patient will then virtually be in this environment and will retell their traumatic memories to a therapist who is helping and guiding them throughout the process. After doing this repeatedly the stress response, fear, and anxiety will decrease or disappear because the patient is in a safe place while the traumatic event is going on virtually. For phobias, virtual representations of the fear stimulus (heights, spiders, etc) can decrease and eliminate the fear response. This is a recent and very promising type of therapy. anxiety treatment progressively exposes people to electronic simulations of greatest fears

psychotherapy

When people talk or think about psychological therapy, they are really referring to psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is any type of therapeutic situation between a trained professional and someone seeking help. There are more than 250 different types but the most well known are psychoanalysis, humanistic, behavior therapy, and cognitive therapy. an ongoing dialogue between a patient and a mental health professional