Download File - AP Psychology

Psychological
Therapies
Therapy
There are over 250 identifiable types of
psychotherapy, though the most influential
are:
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Psychoanalysis Therapies
Humanistic Therapies
Behavior Therapies
Cognitive Therapies
Medical Therapies
Any therapist who uses a combination of
therapies is said to be using an “eclectic”
approach to therapy
Psychoanalysis
Why does the patient have a
disorder?
Psychoanalysis assumes that
many problems are fueled by
the childhood repression of
impulses and conflicts.
Disorders are based on
fixations and defense
mechanisms used to cope with
unresolved life issues.
You’re depressed because your
relationships never work out. What’s the
real reason it never works out? Lets look
at the people you date…too much like
Mom or Dad?
Your addiction to drugs is based on the
need to keep your memories of traumatic
events hidden.
Your insomnia is due to recurring
nightmares that are symbolic of stressful
life events.
Your split personality is a reaction
formation to being bullied.
What strategies do these therapists
use to help their patients?
It is the job of a
psychoanalyst to
bring the repressed
feelings into
conscious awareness
and gain insight as to
the real source of a
patient’s problem in
order to resolve the
conflict and bring to
closure its
accompanying
behaviors.
Free Association

A method of exploring the
unconscious, in which a
person relaxes and says
whatever comes to mind, no
matter how trivial or
embarrassing.
Free Association
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Patients will instinctively avoid
painful discussions and show signs
of stress when they free associate.
This is called resistance. The
therapist will hone in on these
areas of resistance and try to
reveal the true problem of the
patient.
How to reveal the latent content?
Hypnosis
 Inkblots
 TAT Tests
 Dream Analysis
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Transference

Sometimes while revealing their
secrets, patients may begin to
experience strong feelings towards
their therapists. Transferring emotions
from one experience to the therapist
is called transference. It’s then easier
to deal with emotions if they aren’t as
personalized anymore.
Humanistic Therapies
Why does the patient have a
disorder?
Disorders arise when
people feel like they’ve
underachieved, when
they perceive
themselves as less than
ideal, or when they
haven’t reached their
fullest potential. (SelfActualization)
IE. My depression is caused by the
fact that I didn’t get a promotion,
therefore I must be a very bad
employee. (Safety, Esteem)
 IE. The secondary personality of
Charlie arises when Steve feels
bullied. Steve is too weak to deal with
it, but Charlie can. (Safety)
 IE. Timmy broke up with me because
I’m fat. I’ll stop eating so I can be
thin. (Love and Belongingness)
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What strategies do these
therapists use to help their
patients?
A therapist needs to recognize
where the barriers to reaching
self-actualization are (is it a safety
issue? an esteem issue?), and
help the client improve in this
area in order to reach their
potential. The symptoms of the
disorder should fade as a person
improves.
Free Will
Patients need to be reminded
that they are capable of
controlling their own destiny
I don’t have to be a bad employee. I
can either do better at this job, or get
a new job that maximizes my skills.
I don’t have to lose weight. I can
date who I want to, be friends with
who I want to, with someone who
appreciates me.
Client-Centered Therapy
There are four parts to this
interaction between therapist
and patient. It involves setting
achievable goals for the
patient so that they can
overcome their problems.
Genuineness is authenticity. Aware
of one’s own true inner thoughts and
feelings. Being able to share and be
honest with each other.
 Unconditional Positive Regard is
finding value in yourself and finding a
level of mutual respect during
sessions.
 Empathetic Understanding is the
sharing and understanding of feelings
and sensitivity.
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Active Listening
Active-listening involves
a therapists technique of
listening intently,
echoing, restarting and
seeking clarification, and
acknowledgement of a
clients expressed verbal
and non-verbal emotions
“I understand that…..”
“So, what you’re saying is…”
“Ok, let’s talk about this a bit more…”
“How did that make you feel…”
OK, maybe I did do everything I could
to get the promotion and I’m just
underappreciated.
Maybe I did everything I could in that
relationship, and it wasn’t my fault that
it ended.
Cognitive Therapies
Why does the patient have a
disorder?
Cognitive therapy assumes that
faulty thought processes and
beliefs create problem
behaviors and emotions. When
people hold beliefs that are
irrational, that are overly
demanding, or that fail to match
reality, their emotions and
behaviors may become
disturbed.
What strategies do these
therapists use to help their
patients?
Cognitive therapy involves learning
skills that allow you to see the
connection between thoughts and
upsetting feelings, to appraise the
accuracy of these thoughts that are
creating upsetting feelings, and if
they are inaccurate, to make them
more accurate. A therapist wants
to change the thought processes of
patients from negative to positive to
alleviate disorder symptoms.
Rational-Emotive
Behavior Therapy
Identify the activating event,
which is the stimulus for the
feelings and behaviors.
Understand the belief
system, which is the
patient’s interpretation of
the activating experience
Observe the emotional and
behavioral consequences
that the patient experiences
as a result of their belief
system
Dispute, or challenge, the
erroneous belief with logic,
with rational thought
Behavior Therapies
Why does the patient have a
disorder?
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Behaviorists believe that
problem behaviors are
learned behaviors. To
treat disorders is to
eliminate or unlearn the
problem behavior through
various methods of
counterconditioning
What strategies do these
therapists use to help their
patients?
Classical Counter
Conditioning
Systematic Desensitization
Implosive Therapy
Aversive Conditioning
Systematic Desensitization
is also known as exposure
therapy. A therapist is
attempting to gradually
substitute a positive
response for a negative
response to a harmless
stimulus.
Four Steps of SD
Progressive Relaxation A method of
successfully relaxing one muscle
group after another until a deep state
of relaxation is achieved.
 Anxiety Hierarchy
A patient creates
a list of anxiety provoking images
associated with the feared situation,
arranged in a hierarchy from least to
most anxiety producing.
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Control Scene - A soothing mental image to
initiate muscle relaxation. If you begin to feel
stressed, think of….walking on a beach, a
sunny day, etc.
Systematic Desensitization While deeply
relaxed, the patient imagines the least
threatening scene in the anxiety hierarchy. As
long as they stay relaxed, they progress
upwards. If they feel stressed, they find their
control scene and start over. Gradually, a
patient works from imagining the scenes to
experiencing the events in real life.
Lowest to Highest – Fear of Flying
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Packing luggage
Realizing you have to make a flight
Making reservations
Driving to the airport
Checking in
Waiting for boarding
Boarding the plane
Waiting for departure
Taking off
Climbing to cruising altitude
In-flight service
Moving around the cabin
Turbulence
Descending
Landing
Implosive Therapy
Floods patients with their
worst fears first, in hopes
that by confronting their
worst fears, they’ll learn
how to not back down
Aversive Conditioning
In aversive conditioning,
a therapist tries to
replace a positive
response to a harmful
stimulus with a negative
response.
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IE. Dave enjoys sucking his
thumb at night. This is a bad
habit. A therapist would
cover Dave’s thumb with hot
pepper before bed time.
Dave does not like the taste
of hot peppers, and therefore
he will stop sucking his
thumb.
Operant Counter
Conditioning
Token Economy
A token economy is one in which a
therapist rewards patients for
displaying appropriate behaviors by
giving them a token, such as a ticket
or a plastic coin, that they can later
exchange for prizes or gifts.
Medical Model
Why does the patient have a
disorder?
Patients have physical medical
issues related to the brain, blood
chemistry, hormonal and/or
neurotransmitter imbalances, or
traumatic injuries.
What strategies do these
therapists use to help their
patients?
Electroconvulsive Therapy
Patient’s brains are given
momentary shock treatments,
generally for about 30 minutes.
 Only used in cases of deep
depression, it may work by
helping the release of
norepinephrine in the brain,
which is responsible for
elevating arousal and mood.
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Psychosurgery
Surgery that removes or
destroys brain tissue in an
effort to change behavior.
 Once popular, but no
more, a lobotomy cuts the
nerves that connect the
frontal lobe to the emotioncontrolling centers in the
inner-brain.
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Psychopharmacology
The study of the
effects of drugs on
the mind and
behavior
Antipsychotic Drugs
Drugs used for the purpose of
calming psychotic patients
(such as schizophrenia)
characterized by defective or
lost contact with reality (ie.
hallucinations, paranoia, apathy,
withdrawal)
 IE. Thorazine, Clozaril, Haldol
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Most antipsychotic drugs work
by attaching themselves to
receptor sites for dopamine,
thus blocking their
transmission from neuron to
neuron, and helping to
alleviate the hallucinations
related to schizophrenia.
Antianxiety Drugs
Are used for the purpose
of alleviating the
symptoms stemming from
frightening situations and
fear-inducing stimuli
 IE. Xanax, Valium
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Antianxiety drugs work
by depressing the central
nervous system activity,
generally by increasing
the effectiveness of the
calming
neurotransmitter, GABA.
Antidepressant Drugs
The purpose is to lift
people up from a state
of depression
 IE. Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft
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Antidepressant drugs
work by increasing the
availability of
norepinephrine and/or
serotonin, which elevate
arousal and mood
Lithium is an antidepressant used
mainly for manicdepressives (bipolar)
Clips
Cognitive Therapy – Modifying Negative Thoughts
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0YyC1iS8Rc&feature=related
Behavioral Therapy - Systematic Desensitization
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkd7zcvFQ5w
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co7BWWoF-5I
Psychodynamic Therapy – What to Expect
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_oGjPAPepk
Humanistic Therapy – Carl Rogers/Client-Centered Therapy
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBkUqcqRChg&feature=related