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Therapies
Chapter 14
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Insight Therapies
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Psychoanalysis
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Designed to bring repressed feelings and
thoughts to conscious awareness
Free association
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Transference
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Patient talks about whatever comes to mind
Client’s feelings about authority figures, both positive
and negative, transferred to therapist
Insight
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Awareness of previously unconscious feelings and
memories and how they influence present behavior
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Client-Centered Therapy
Developed by Carl Rogers
 Goal is to help clients become fully
functioning
 Therapist expresses unconditional positive
regard
 Therapy is nondirective
 Therapist reflects clients’ statements
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Gestalt Therapy
Outgrowth of the work of Fritz Perls
 Emphasizes the wholeness of personality
 Attempts to reawaken people to their
emotions and sensations in the here-andnow
 Encourages confrontation with issues
 Therapist is active and directive
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Recent Developments
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Short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy
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Focused on trying to help people correct the
immediate problems in their lives
Virtual therapy
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Therapy delivered online
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Behavior Therapies
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Behavior Therapies
Based on the belief that all behavior is
learned
 Objective of therapy is to teach people
new ways of behaving
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Using Classical Conditioning
Techniques
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Systematic desensitization
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Extinction
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Ending of old fears or reactions
Flooding
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Gradually associating relaxation with what was feared
Full-intensity exposure to feared object
Aversive conditioning
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Eliminate undesirable behavior by associating it with
pain and discomfort
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Operant Conditioning
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Behavior contracting
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Client and therapist set behavioral goals and
agree on reinforcements the person will
receive
Token economy
Clients earn tokens for desired behaviors and
exchange them for desired items or privileges
 Often used in schools and hospitals
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Modeling
Person learns new behaviors by watching
others perform those behaviors
 Sometimes used in conjunction with
operant conditioning
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Cognitive Therapies
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Stress-Inoculation Therapy
Type of cognitive therapy that trains
people to cope with stressful situations by
learning a more useful patterns of self-talk
 Taught to suppress negative and anxietyprovoking thoughts in times of stress
 Particularly effective for treating anxiety
disorders
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET)
A directive therapy based on the idea that
psychological distress is caused by
irrational and self-defeating beliefs
 Core problem is belief in “musts” and
“shoulds” that leave no room for making
mistakes
 Therapist’s job is to challenge client’s
irrational beliefs
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Beck’s Cognitive Therapy
Aimed at identifying and changing
inappropriately negative and self-critical
patterns of thought
 Good treatment for depression
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Group Therapies
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Family Therapy
Form of group therapy that sees the family
as at least partly responsible for the
individual’s problems
 Seeks to change all family members’
behavior to the benefit of the family and
the individual
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Couple Therapy
A form of group therapy intended to help
troubled partners improve their
communication and interaction
 Empathy training
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Partners taught to share feelings and listen to
and understand partner’s feelings
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Self-Help Groups
Small, local gatherings of people who
share common problems and provide
mutual assistance at very low cost
 Alcoholics Anonymous is an example
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Effectiveness of Psychotherapy
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Does Psychotherapy Work?
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Psychotherapy helps about 2/3rd of people treated
Approximately 1/3 would improve without therapy
Which Type of Therapy is Best for Which
Disorder?
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No one type of therapy is better
Key is to match the problem with the appropriate
therapy
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Biological Treatments
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Drug Therapies
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Major reasons for widespread use of drugs
Drugs are effective at treating disorders
 Drug therapies are often less expensive that
psychotherapy
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Antipsychotic Drugs
Used for schizophrenia or psychosis
 All antipsychotics block dopamine
receptors in the brain
 Phenothiazines (Thorazine)
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Antidepressant Drugs
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Tricyclics and MAO inhibitors
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Most common antidepressants prior to late 1980s
Work by increasing amount of the neurotransmitters
serotonin and norepinephrine
Effective, but have serious side effects
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)
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Work by blocking the reuptake of serotonin
Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Action of SSRIs
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Lithium
A naturally occurring salt that is used to
treat bipolar disorder (manic depression)
 Nobody knows how lithium works to
alleviate symptoms
 Problem with people stopping medication
when symptoms ease
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Other Medications
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Psychostimulants
Use to treat disorders such as AD/HD
 Concern that psychostimulants are being
overused
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Antianxiety medications
Use to treat anxiety disorders
 Produce a feeling of calm and mild euphoria
 Valium is a common antianxiety medication
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Electroconvulsive Therapy
Commonly known as “shock therapy”
 Used as a treatment for severe depression
 Causes brief convulsions and temporary
loss of consciousness
 Memory loss is a side-effect
 Newer techniques minimize effects on
memory
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Psychosurgery
Brain surgery performed to change a
person’s behavior or emotional state
 A prefrontal lobotomy is an example
 Psychosurgery is rarely used today
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Institutionalization and Its
Alternatives
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Deinstitutionalization
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Releasing people with severe psychological
disorders into the community
Can cause problems
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Some people are ill-prepared to deal with life outside
of a hospital
Up to 40% of homeless are mentally ill
Alternative forms of treatment (many)
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Half-way houses
Family-crisis interventions
Day-care
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Prevention
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Primary prevention
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Improve the social environment so that new cases of
mental disorders do not develop
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Secondary prevention
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Family planning
Genetic counseling
Interventions with high risk groups (e.g., suicide hotline)
Tertiary prevention
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Help people adjust after they are released from the
hospital in order to help prevent a relapse
Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Gender Differences in Treatment
More women admit problems and go to
therapy
 Women are more likely to take medication
 Psychotherapy is seen as more
acceptable for women
 Recent increases in number of males
seeking psychotherapy
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall
Cultural Difference in Treatment
Eye contact and body language varies
across cultures and may be misinterpreted
as symptomatic of a disorder
 Another challenge is treating posttraumatic stress disorder in refugees
 There may be disorders in other cultures
that do not appear in U.S.
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Psychology: An Introduction
Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto
© 2005 Prentice Hall