C16: Therapy

• The main purpose of therapy by Philippe Pinel, creating a way to treat psychological disorders with kindness using humane treatments and constructing mental hospitals
• Psychological therapies (Psychotherapy) is the focus on changing disordered thoughts, feelings and behaviors using psychological techniques
• Insight Therapy is the focus on helping people understand their problems and change their thoughts, motives or feelings
• Behavior Therapy focuses primarily on changing ones behavior
• Action Therapy is the focus on changing disordered behavior
• There are two main categories of therapy: Psychotherapy and biomedical
• Biomedical Therapies focus on treating mental problems by changing the underlying biology of the brain
• In biomedical therapy, physicians/nurse practitioners can use a variety of drugs, tranquilizers and stimulants
• Eclectic Approach is a psychotherapy approach that uses techniques from various forms of therapy
• The goal of psychoanalytic therapy was to bring repressed thoughts and feelings to the surface; that acknowledging and understanding them, patient would be cured of their mental illness
• Psychoanalytic Therapy, Insight: Gains insight after repressed thoughts and feelings are brought to the surface
• Psychoanalytic Therapy, Unconscious conflicts: Hidden psychological struggles one isn't fully aware of, still impacts thoughts, emotions and behaviors; occurs from early experiences and unresolved issues and affects how we think and act
• Psychoanalytic Therapy, Approach: Usage of Free Association, Dream Analysis, Manifest and Latent content
• Free Association is the method of exploring the unconscious where a person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind despite however embarrassing
• Dream Analysis is the process of interpreting content and symbolism of dreams to gain insight into one's unconscious thoughts, feelings and desires
• Manifest content is the ability to remember the storyline of our dreams
• Latent content is the underlying meaning of a dream of unconscious drives and wishes
• Different techniques rely on the interpretation by the therapist: Resistance, Interpretation and Transference
• Resistance is the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material
• Interpretation is the analyst's noting supposed dream meanings, resistances and other significant behaviors and events in order to promote insight
• Transference is the patients transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (eg. love or hatred for a parent)
• Psychodynamic Therapy derives from psychoanalytic tradition that views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences who seeks to enhance self-insight
• Psychoanalytic Therapy was created by Sigmund Freud
• Humanistic Therapy was created by Carl Rogers
• The goal of humanistic therapy was to attempt to reduce the inner conflicts that interfere with natural development and growth; therapist tried to give clients new insights to achieve goal
• Humanistic Therapy, Approach: Usage of Client-Central Therapy, Genuineness, Active Listening, Unconditional Positive Regard, Accurate Empathic Understanding and Gestalt Therapy
• Client-Central Therapy is the usage of techniques within an accepting, genuine, empathic environment to facilitate clients' growth (eg. Active listening)
• Genuineness is to be authentic, transparent and honest in one's interactions with others
• Active Listening is a psychological skill that helps one build trust and understand others' situations and feelings
• Unconditional Positive Regard is a caring, accepting, non judgmental attitude to help develop self-awareness and self-acceptance
• Accurate Empathic Understanding is the ability to comprehend and connect emotionally with one's thoughts, feelings and experiences in a precise and genuine manner
• Gestalt Therapy focuses on the present moment, helping clients understand what is happening presently and how it makes them feel
• Gestalt Therapy emphasizes personal responsibility, self-awareness and integration of the mind, body and emotions
• Countertransference is the opposite of transference; where the therapist transfers emotions linked with other relationships to the patient (eg. loving patient like their own child)
• Symptom Substitution is a unconscious process where a symptom is developed to replace one that has cleared up as a result of treatment
• Arbitrary Interference is the process of forming conclusions without any supporting evidence (essentially jumping to conclusions)
• Dichotomous Thinking is a type of thinking that views everything as an either-or situation ("World is black and white")
• The goal of behavior therapy is to use conditioning to undo a behavior
• Exposure therapy works well to treat anxiety disorders (eg. phobias, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, GAD, PTSD, OCD, etc.)
• The Anxiety Hierarchy is a structured list of anxiety-inducing situations/triggers ranked in order of potential to evoke fear/anxiety