Chapter 15: Therapy

benefits of group therapy

1. less expensive 2. social feedback 3. reassurance that others share troubles

What two tendencies can bias appraisals of the effectiveness of alternative therapies?

1. there is a natural tendency for extraordinary happenings to return to a normal state. Clients may attribute their improvement to successful treatment 2. the placebo effect is the healing power of belief in a treatment. Clients who expect a treatment to be effective may believe it was

other more moderate neural stimulations that are used to alleviate depression

1. vagus nerve stimulation 2. deep-brain stimulation 3. repetetive transcranial magnetic stimulation

How do humanistic and cognitive therapies differ?

By reflecting clients' feelings in a non-directive setting, the humanistic therapies attempt to foster personal growth by helping clients become more self-aware and self-accepting. By making clients aware of self-defeating patterns of thinking, cognitive therapies guide people toward more adaptive ways of thinking about themselves and their world

client-centered therapy

a humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathetic environment to facilitate clients' growth

cognitive-behavioral therapy

a popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior)

lobotomy

a psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients. The procedure cut the nerves connecting the frontal lobes of the emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain

aversive conditioning

a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol)

systematic desensitization

a type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli. Commonly used to treat phobias

insight therapies

a variety of therapies that aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing a person's awareness of underlying motives and defenses

brain stimulation therapy aim

alleviate depression that is unresponsive to drug therapy

therapy technique utilized by drug therapy

alter brain chemistry through drugs

therapy technique utilized by therapeutic life-style change

alter lifestyle through adequate exercise, sleep, and other changes

virtual reality exposure therapy

an anxiety treatment that progressively exposes people to electronic simulations of their greatest fears, such as airplane flying, spiders, or public speaking

eclectic approach

an approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the client's problems, uses techniques from various forms of therapy

token economy

an operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token of some sort for exhibiting a desired behavior and can later exchange the tokens for various privileges or treats

What drugs are most often given to treat anxiety disorders?

antidepressants

What drugs are most often given to treat depression?

antidepressants

What kind of drugs are often used to treat schizophrenia?

antipsychotic drugs

presumed problem of those seeking client-centered therapy

barriers to self-understanding and self-acceptance

counterconditioning

behavior therapy procedures that use classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors; includes exposure therapies and aversive conditioning

exposure therapies

behavioral techniques, such as systematic desensitization and virtual reality exposure therapy, that treat anxieties by exposing people (in imagination or actual situations) to the things they fear and avoid

presumed problem of those undergoing psychosurgery

brain malfunction

Do exposure therapies and aversive conditioning utilize operant or classical conditioning?

classical

repetetive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)

the application of repeated pulses of magnetic energy of the brain; used to stimulate or suppress brain activity

How do the insight therapies differ from behavior therapies?

the insight therapies--psychodynamic and humanistic therapies--seek to relieve problems by providing an understanding of their origins. Behavior therapies assume the problem behavior is the problem and treat it directly

resilience

the personal strength that helps most people cope with stress and recover from adversity and even trauma

psychopharmacology

the study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior

group therapy

therapy conducted with groups rather than individuals, permitting therapeutic benefits from group interaction

psychodynamic therapy

therapy derived from the psychoanalytic tradition; views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences, and seeks to enhance self-insight

behavior therapy

therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors

cognitive therapy

therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions

family therapy

therapy that treats the family as a system. Views an individual's unwanted behavior as influenced by, or directed at, other family members

What is cognitive-behavioral therapy, and what sorts of problems does this therapy address?

this popular integrative therapy helps people change self-defeating thinking and behavior. It has been shown to be effective for those with obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, mood disorders, and anorexia nervosa

Are those who undergo psychotherapy more or less likely to show improvement than those who do not undergo psychotherapy?

those who undergo psychotherapy are more likely to show improvement

therapy techniques utilized by cognitive-behavioral therapy

train people to counter self-harmful thoughts and to act out their new ways of thinking

therapy techniques utilized by cognitive therapy

train people to dispute negative thoughts and attributions

In psychoanalysis, why is it that patients may experience strong feelings for their analyst?

transference

psychotherapy

treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth

presumed problem of those seeking psychodynamic therapy

unconscious conflicts from childhood experiences

therapy techniques utilized by behavior therapy

use classical conditioning (via exposure or aversive therapy) or operant conditioning (as in token economies)

What are EMDR and light exposure therapy, and what have we learned from controlled research about the value of these therapies?

Soe therapists use eye movement desensitization and reprocessing to treat anxiety sufferers--triggering eye movements in their clients as the client envisions traumatic memories in an effort to reprocess the negative events. Light exposure therapy treats those suffering from depression with prescribed time in front of very bright artificial light in the mornings. Research suggests that light therapy is as effective as drugs or cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression. EMDR has shown some effectiveness--not from the eye movement but rather from the exposure therapy nature of the treatments (and the placebo effect)

What is the difference between preventive mental health and psychological or biomedical therapy?

Psychological and biomedical therapies attempt to relieve people's suffering from psychological disorders. Preventive mental health attempts to prevent suffering by identifying and eliminating the conditions that cause disorders

psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud's therapeutic technique. Freud believed the patient's free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences--and the the therapist's interpretations of them--released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight

What is evidence-based practice?

Using this approach, therapists make decisions about treatment based on research evidence, clinical expertise, and knowledge of the client

electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electrical current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient

unconditional positive regard

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients develop self-awareness and self-acceptance

resistance

in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material

transference

in psychoanalysis, the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent)

therapy techniques utilized by psychodynamic therapy

interpret patients' memories and feelings

therapy techniques utilized by client-centered therapy

listen actively and reflect client's feelings

Is therapy most helpful for individuals who have the most clearly defined problems or individuals who have the least clearly defined problems

most clearly defined problems

presumed problem of those seeking cognitive therapy

negative, self-defeating thinking

presumed problem of those undergoing drug therapy

neurotransmitter malfunction

What is an analyst doing when they attempt to offer insight into the patient's underlying anxiety?

offering interpretation of the mental blocks

Do exposure token economies utilize operant or classical conditioning?

operant

biomedical therapy

prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person's physiology

aim of cognitive-behavioral therapy

promote healthier thinking and adaptive behaviors

aim of cognitive therapy

promote healthier thinking and self-talk

aim of psychodynamic therapy

reduce anxiety through self-insight

aim of behavior therapy

relearn adaptive behaviors and extinguish the problem ones

psychosurgery aim

relieve severe disorders

therapy technique utilized by psychosurgery

remove or destroy brain tissue

What are patients showing when they demonstrate anxiety or put mental blocks around sensitive memories

resistance

therapeutic life-style change aim

restore healthy biological state

presumed problem of those seeking cognitive-behavioral therapy

self-harmful thoughts and behaviors

presumed problem of those undergoing brain stimulation

sever, "treatment-resistant" depression

therapy technique utilized by brain stimulation therapy

stimulate brain through electroconvulsive shock, vagus nerve stimulation, deep-brain stimulation, or magnetic impulses

presumed problem of those undergoing therapeutic life-style change therapy

stress and unhealthy lifestyle

presumed problem of those seeking group and family therapy

stressful relationships

psychosurgery

surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior

interpretation

in psychoanalysis, the analyst's noting supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors and events in order to promote insight

Some maladaptive behaviors are learned. What hope does this fact provide?

If a behavior can be learned, it can be unlearned, and replaced by other more adaptive responses

evidence-based practice

clinical decision making that integrates the best available research with clinical expertise and patient characteristics and preferences

drug therapy aim

control symptoms of psychological disorders

therapy techniques utilized by group and family therapy

develop an understanding of family and other social systems, explore roles, and improve communication

anti-anxiety drugs

drugs used to control anxiety and agitation

antidepressant drugs

drugs used to treat depression and some anxiety disorders. Different types work by alternating the availability of various neurotransmitters

antipsychotic drugs

drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other forms of severe thought disorder

presumed problem of those seeking behavior therapy

dysfunctional behavior

How are patients with severe depression treated if they are not responding to other therapies?

electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) which may cause memory loss

active listening

empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature of Rogers' client-centered therapy

aim of client-centered therapy

enable growth via unconditional positive regard, genuineness, and empathy

What are some examples of lifestyle changes we can make to enhance our mental health?

exercise regularly, get enough sleep, get more exposure to light, nurture important relationships, redirect negative thinking, and eat a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids

aim of group and family therapy

heal relationships

Which therapeutic technique focuses more on the present and future than the past, and involves unconditional positive regard and active listening

humanistic therapy-specifically Carl Rogers' client-centered therapy