Therapy

Therapy

AP Psychology Mr. Holland

Psychotherapy  Psychoanalysis  Humanistic

Therapies  Behavior Therapies  Cognitive Therapies  Group and Family Therapies  Eclectic Approach

Psychoanalysis 

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Few therapists practice psychoanalysis as Freud did but many of his techniques survive Aims – Freud assumes that people’s psychological disorders are fueled by the residue of childhood’s repressed impulses and conflicts. The aim of therapy is to discover this repression. Once discovered there will be less anxiety because the energy wasted between id ego and superego has been released.

Psychoanalysis 

Methods – Psychoanalysis is basically historical reconstruction. Freud used free association to unlock the unconscious. Patients who pausing before answering or joked about uncomfortable thoughts were said to display resistance. Resistance usually indicated the location of the problem issue you are having and the psychoanalyst would pursue those topics till they could give you insight into them by interpretation. Freud is also famous for his analysis of dreams, esp. the latent content.

Psychoanalysis  Sometimes

your repressed feelings of anger or passion may be transferred to your therapist. When this happens psychoanalysts view it as another opportunity to give you insight.  Psychoanalysis takes a long time, years usually at several sessions a week which makes it very expensive

Psychodynamic Theory  Psychodynamic

theory is a more modern version which focuses on resolving current issues by exploring someone’s childhood. However, the sessions are less often and only last a few months and more directly address the patient.  Interpersonal psychotherapy tries to help people by addressing their current issues only not delving into their past as much.

Humanistic Therapies  Humanistic

perspective emphasizes people’s inherent potential for self-fulfillment.  Humanistic therapies aim to boost selffulfillment by helping people grow in selfawareness and self-acceptance.

Psychotherapy vs. Humanistic Humanistic focuses more on: The present and future than the past Conscious rather than unconscious thoughts Taking immediate responsibility for actions and feelings not uncovering hidden origins Promoting growth instead of curing illness, having clients not patients.

Client Centered Therapy  

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Famous Humanist Therapy developed by Carl Rodgers Focus is on the clients self perceptions not the therapists interpretations of them. This is also called nondirective therapy as the therapist is not leading the client toward any particular insight. Believing most people have the tools to improve themselves Rodgers wanted therapists to simply focus on and express genuineness, acceptance, and empathy.

Client Centered Therapy  Therapists

are experts in active listening which involves paraphrasing and inviting clarification of what people express, and reflecting their feelings. Rodgers believes that most people “just want to be heard” and once they know they have communicated with someone and someone understands them they will be more open to change.

Behavior Therapies  Behavior

therapies doubt that self awareness leads to fixing psychological disorders and their symptoms. For behaviorists the symptoms of the disorders are themselves the problems and if those behaviors can be changed the person is “cured.”

Behavior Therapies 

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Therefore behavior therapy takes what we know about learning principles such as classical conditioning and applies them to eliminate unwanted therapies, they do not try to deal with or examine root causes. Besides classical conditioning behaviorists also use counterconditioning such as systematic desensitization or averse conditioning.

Systematic Desensitization  Exposure

Therapies – expose patients a little bit to their phobias so over time they no longer fear them.  Systematic desensitization – using techniques like progressive relaxation patients learn over time how to relax in the presence of their phobias.

Averse Conditioning  In

averse conditioning the therapist tries to replace a positive response to a harmful stimulus with a negative response. It’s the opposite of systemic desensitization. For example treating nail biting by placing a nasty tasting nail polish on your nails.

Operant Conditioning  Offers

rewards for wanted behavior and punishments for unwanted behavior, usually focuses on rewards.  Sometimes therapists create a token economy or system of rewards for patients to take part in.

Critiques of Behavior Modification  What

happens when reinforcers or therapy stops?  Is behavior modification authoritative and ethical? Are token economies ethical?

Cognitive Therapies Cognitive therapies assume that thinking colors our feelings and actions. Cognitive therapists aim to make people aware of their thoughts and change how people think about things to cure things like depression Cognitive-behavior therapy – combining cognitive and behavior therapy to change both the thoughts and actions of the patient

Group and Family Therapies 

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Group therapies can be more cost effective and work as well as individual therapies for many people. People have the benefit of knowing they are not alone in their issues. Family therapy assumes that in order to help an individual all people close to that individual should go through some therapy. Therapists usually try to open up communication and teach ways of resolving conflicts.

Is Psychotherapy Effective? 

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Client’s and therapist’s perceptions are not always the best indicator if therapy is working because they work within biases Researcher’s use meta-analysis, the combining of information from many studies to determine how effective therapy is. Research show’s that while some people who do not get treatment improve on their own over time, a statistically significant group improve more often if therapy is applied.

Is Psychotherapy Effective?  Studies

by insurance companies show that psychotherapy is cost effective because treated patients will spend less time seeking medical attention and less time missing work and will be more effective workers. This is why insurance companies will help pay for therapy

Is Psychotherapy Effective? 

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Surprisingly however it has generally been determined that no one therapy is overall more effective than others, even when the training of the psychologist is taken into account or whether its group or individual therapy. Some therapies are recommended for specific issues though, like behavioral therapies have good success curing phobias, compulsions, or sexual disorders

Alternative Therapies  Most

alternative therapies will be effective at least within the range of the placebo effect.  However, controlled studies of most of these therapies has not been conducted  Many successes of alternative therapies can be attributed to other therapies or simply the desire of the patient to want to get better

Commonalities Amongst Psychotherapies Meta-analysis shows the following traits are common in all therapies.  Hope for demoralized people  A new perspective to help change life  An empathetic, Trusting, Caring, professional relationship between client and therapist.

Biomedical Therapies  Drug

Therapies (psychopharmacology)  Electroconvulsive Therapy  Psychosurgery