question

Treatment of Psychological Disorders

answer

Most mental disorders can be treated in more than one way Often, a particular method is more successful than others for a specific disorder

question

2 Categories of Treatment

answer

1) psychological (psychotherapy) 2) biological Usually combined now a days

question

Psychotherapy

answer

The generic name given to formal psychological treatment All forms of psychotherapy involve interactions between a practitioner and a client Aimed at changing patterns of thought or behavior Particular techniques depend on the practitioner's training Helps the client understand his or her symptoms/problems and provides solutions Tends to be better for improving disorders over the long-term

question

Biological Therapies

answer

Treatment based on medical approaches to illness and to disease Based on the notion that mental disorders result from abnormalities in neural and bodily processes Psychopharmacology

question

Psychopharmacology

answer

The use of medications that affect brain or body functions Are effective for some disorders on a short-term basis Long term success may imply continuous treatment

question

Many Different Forms of Psychotherapies

answer

All generally share the same goal, but have different ways to achieve it More than 400 approaches Most use an eclectic approach that uses a variety of techniques that seem appropriate for a given client Patient therapist relationship is very important for any aspect of physical or mental health; fosters an expectation of receiving Help

question

Different Types of Psychotherapies List

answer

Psychodynamic Therapy: provides people with insight Humanistic Therapy: fosters growth through better self understanding (client-based therapy, motivational interviewing) Behavior Therapy: changes maladaptive behaviors (social skills training Cognitive Therapy: changes maladaptive thought patterns (cognitive restructuring, rational-emotive therapy, interpersonal therapy, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: most commonly used (exposure and response prevention, systematic desensitization) Group Therapy Family Therapy

question

Psychodynamic Therapy

answer

Focuses on insight Introduced by Freud, who believed that disorders were caused by prior experiences (particularly early traumatic experiences) through psychoanalysis

question

Psychoanalysis

answer

Uncovering unconscious feelings and drives that were thought to give rise to maladaptive behaviors In early forms, the patient and therapist were separated Thought to reduce the client's inhibitions and allow freer access to unconscious thought processes Considers maladaptive behavior the result of an underlying problem Techniques used free association and dream analysis

question

Free Association

answer

The client would say whatever came to mind and the therapist would look for signs of unconscious conflict

question

Dream Analysis

answer

The therapist would try to interpret the hidden meaning behind a client's dreams

question

Goal of Psychoanalysis

answer

General goal is to increase the client's awareness of his or her own unconscious psychological processes and how these processes affect daily functioning (insight) Symptoms diminish as a result of reducing unconscious conflicts

question

Insight

answer

The goal of psychoanalysis A patients awareness of his or her own unconscious psychological processes and how these processes affect daily functioning frees the client from unconscious influences

question

Modern Psychodynamic Therapy

answer

Reformed some of Freud's ideas Therapist aims to help a patient examine the patient's needs, defenses, and motives as a way of understanding why the patient is distressed More conversational Still focuses on insight Features include exploring the client's avoidance of distressing thoughts, looking for recurring themes and patterns in thoughts and feelings (common to most psychotherapies), discussing early traumatic experiences, focusing on relationships (common to most psychotherapies) and early attachments, exploring fantasies

question

Criticisms of Modern Psychodynamic Therapy

answer

Traditional psychodynamic therapy is expensive Time consuming (often occurs over the course of years) Has promise for certain disorders (like borderline), but not for others

question

New Approach to Override Criticisms of Psychodynamic Therapy

answer

Fewer sessions Focuses more on current relationships Believes that people have underlying conflicts that need to be resolved Short term psychodynamic therapy is useful for treating disorders like depression and eating disorders or substance disorders but drop out rates are high

question

Health Benefits of Talking and Expressing Emotion

answer

Positive health effects for people who share emotional events When people reveal intimate or emotional material, they go into a trancelike state Talking or writing about emotionally charged events reduces blood pressure, muscle tension, and skin conduction during disclosure and immediately thereafter Expressing emotional events has a positive influence on health in any way Writing about emotional events improves immune function May help by forcing people to reinterpret events in less threatening ways

question

Humanistic Therapy

answer

Focuses on the whole person and emphasizes personal experience and the individual's belief systems Goal is to treat the person as a whole Fosters growth through better self understanding Best type is client-centered therapy Motivational interviewing Although not widely solely used, is used to establish a good therapeutic relationship

question

Client-centered Therapy

answer

An empathetic approach to therapy Developed by Carl Rogers Encourages people to fulfill their individual potentials for personal growth through greater self-understanding Important to provide a safe and comfortable setting Therapists should express unconditional positive regard and be empathetic Therapist helps client focus on his or her subjective experience Involves the therapist to use reflective listening

question

Reflective Listening

answer

The therapist repeats the client's concerns to help the person clarify his or her feelings

question

Motivational Interviewing

answer

Uses a client-centered approach over a very short period (one or 2 interviews) Valuable treatment for drug and alcohol abuse and to increase healthy habits Brief form of empathetic therapy is successful due to the warmth of the therapist

question

Behavior Therapy

answer

Treatment based on the premise that behavior is learned and therefore can be unlearned through the use of classical and operant conditioning Behavior modification is based on classical and operant conditioning; method of helping people to learn desired behaviors and unlearn unwanted behaviors Used social training skills

question

Social Training Skills

answer

Used by a therapist to elicit a desired behavior Especially when a client has interpersonal difficulties First step involves modeling (therapist acting out an appropriate behavior Client is encouraged to imitate the displayed behavior, rehearse it in therapy, and later apply the behavior to real world situations

question

Cognitive Therapy

answer

Based on the theory that distorted thoughts can produce maladaptive behaviors and emotions Treatment strategies should eliminate the maladaptive behaviors and emotions Cognitive restructuring rational emotive therapy interpersonal therapy mindfulness based cognitive therapy

question

Cognitive Restructuring

answer

A therapy that strives to help patients recognize maladaptive thought patterns and replace them with ways of viewing the world that are more in tune with reality

question

Rational Emotive Therapy

answer

A therapist acts as a teacher, explaining the clients errors in thinking and demonstrating more adaptive ways to think and behave

question

Cognitive Therapy and Rational-Emotive Therapy

answer

In both, maladaptive behavior is assumed to result from individual belief systems and ways of thinking rather than from objective conditions

question

Interpersonal Therapy

answer

Focuses on circumstances, namely, relationships the client attempts to avoid Integrates cognitive therapy and psychodynamic insight therapy Developed from psychodynamic ideas and utilizes cognitive techniques Treatment focuses on helping the client explore their interpersonal experiences and express their emotions

question

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy

answer

People who recover from depression continue to be vulnerable to faulty thinking when they experience negative moods Based on principles derived from mindfulness meditation (originated from eastern yoga practices) 2 goals: 1) help clients become more aware of their negative thoughts and feelings at times when they are vulnerable 2) to help them learn to disengage from ruminative thinking through meditation

question

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

answer

Incorporates techniques from cognitive therapy and behavior therapy to correct faulty thinking and change maladaptive behaviors Perhaps the most widely used version of psychotherapy Most effective for anxiety and mood disorders Oftentimes includes an exposure component Exposure and response prevention Systematic desensitization

question

Exposure

answer

A cognitive-behavioral therapy technique that involves repeated exposure to an anxiety producing stimulus or situation Based on classical conditioning Causes the client's avoidance response to eventually extinguish

question

Exposure and Response Prevention

answer

Occurs when the client is not permitted to avoid a negative stimulus, which causes avoidance to decrease Highly effective for OCD

question

Systematic Desensitization

answer

Gradual form of exposure therapy Reliable treatments for phobias

question

Group Therapy

answer

Arose in popularity after WWII Cheaper Group setting provides an opportunity for members to improve their social skills and learn from one another's experiences Many are organized around a particular type of problem or client Behavioral-cognitive groups are highly structured Less structured groups focus on increasing insight and providing social support Often used to augment individual psychotherapy

question

Systems Approach

answer

States that an individual is part of a larger context, and any change in individual behavior will affect the whole system Basis for family therapy

question

Family Therapy

answer

Based on the systems approach Family attitudes are often critical to long-term prognoses Helping families provide appropriate social support leads to better therapy outcomes and reduces relapses for individuals in treatment All members together are considered the client

question

Expressed Emotion

answer

Seen in family members of a schizophrenic A pattern of negative actions by a client's family members Pattern includes criticism, hostility directed toward the client, and emotional over involvement Level of expressed emotion from family members corresponds to the relapse rate for patients with schizophrenia, and relapse rates are highest if the client has a lot of contact with family

question

Culture Can Affect Therapeutic Processes

answer

Culture has multiple influences on the way psychological disorders are expressed, which people are likely to recover, and people's willingness to seek help Psychotherapy is accepted to different extents in different countries In some cultures, people avoid the words mental illness, depression, and anxiety because of the stigma of mental disorders when communicating mental health problems Culture plays a role in determining availability, use, and effectiveness of different types of psychotherapy Because experience differs greatly as a result of culture, these differences must also be addressed in therapy Western psychotherapists are adopting practices from other cultures to enhance treatment

question

Medication and Disorders

answer

The use of medicine in treatment of disorders is based on the assumption that psychological disorders result from imbalances in specific neurotransmitters or because the receptors for those neurotransmitters are not functioning properly

question

Psychotropic Medication

answer

Drugs that affect mental processes Act by changing brain neurochemistry inhibit action potentials, or alter synaptic transmissions to increase or decrease action 3 categories: anti-anxiety drugs, antidepressants, antipsychotics Oftentimes a drug from one category can treat another due to comorbidity

question

Anti-anxiety Drugs

answer

aka tranquilizers A class of psychotropic medications used for the treatment of anxiety ex) benzodiazepines to increase the activity of GABA (the most pervasive inhibitory neurotransmitter) Reduce anxiety and promote relaxation but induce drowsiness and are highly addictive

question

Antidepressants

answer

A class of psychotropic medications used for the treatment of depression, also used for anxiety disorders ex) MAO inhibitors that result in more serotonin being available at the synapse, raise levels of norepinephrine and dopamine as well ex) tricyclic antidepressants inhibit the reputake of serotonin ex) selective serotonin reputake inhibitors (SSRI) inhibit the reputake of serotonin, but act on other neurotransmitters to a lesser extent

question

Antipsychotics

answer

aka neuroleptics A class of psychotropic medications used for the treatment of schizophrenia and other disorders that involve psychosis reduce symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations Bind to dopamine receptors Not always effective, have side effects that can be irreversible like tardive dyskinesia (involuntary muscle twitches) Clozapine acts on many receptors in addition to dopamine receptors but can cause problems with white blood cells

question

Meds for Bipolar Disorders

answer

Lithium and anticonvulsants

question

Extreme Cases

answer

When people are treatment resistant to methods of psychotherapy or other types of medicine, we resort to brain surgery, the use of magnetic fields, or electrical stimulation All methods are used to alter brain function More likely to have serious side effects

question

Early Surgical Methods

answer

First types involved trepanning: making small holes in the skull to "let out evil spirits" that were believed to cause unusual behavior One of earliest formal procedures was psychosurgery: prefrontal lobotomies that were used to treat severe mental disorders (areas of the frontal cortex were selectively damaged); used for schizophrenia, major depression, anxiety disorders Lobotomies were discontinued in the 1950s

question

Moniz

answer

First to perform a prefrontal lobotomy Severed the nerve-fiber pathways in the prefrontal cortez After patients had this procedure, they were often listless and had flat affect Impaired abstract thought, planning, motivation, social interaction

question

Current Brain Surgeries

answer

Involves small regions of the brain and is typically performed only as a last resort

question

Electroconvulsive Therapy

answer

Involves administering a strong electrical current to the patients brain to produce a seizure Effective for some causes of severe depression Now occurs under anesthesia with powerful muscle relaxants to confine the seizure to the brain

question

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

answer

A powerful electrical current produces a magnetic field Induces an electrical current in the brain region directly below the coil, interrupting neural function in that region Used to treat severe depression

question

Single Pulse TMS

answer

Disruption of brain activity occurs only during the brief period of stimulation

question

Repeated TMS

answer

Multiple pulses are extended over time The disruption can last beyond the period of direct stimulaiton

question

Deep Brain Stimulation

answer

Involves surgically implanting electrodes deep within the brain Mild electricity is then used to stimulate the brain at an optimal frequency and intensity, similar to pacemaker Treats symptoms of parkinsons, might be valuable for OCD and depression Has few side effects and a low complication rate

question

Therapies not Supported by Scientific Evidence

answer

Most psychologists recommend treatments that careful empirical research has shown to be effective There are many studies that have no scientific basis Some treatments widely believed to be effective are actually counterproductive (ex: debriefing after major trauma, scared straight programs, DARE, and hypnosis to recover painful memories)

question

We are Crazy

answer

Nearly half of all Americans meet DSM IV criteria for a psychological disorder at some point in our lives

question

Major types of Specialized Mental Health Practitioners

answer

Clinical Psychologists Psychiatrists Counseling Psychologists Psychiatric Social Workers Psychiatric Nurses Paraprofessionals

question

Clinical Psychologists

answer

PHD (emphasizes research) or Psy D (emphasizes clinical skills for those who intend to provide direct mental health services) Academic or hospital settings Typically are not able to prescribe medicine

question

Psychiatrists

answer

Have a MD Hospitals or private practice Only mental health practitioners who can legally administer drugs

question

Counseling Psychologists

answer

PhD Typically deal with problems of adjustment and life stress that do not involve mental illness schools' colleges

question

Psychaitric Social Workers

answer

MSW Have specialized training in mental health care Psychiatric hospitals, house calls

question

Psychiatric Nurses

answer

BSN Special training in the care of mentally ill patients Hospitals or residential treatment homes

question

Choosing the Right Therapist

answer

The right one must have the appropriate training and experience for the specific mental disorder Person receiving the help must believe the therapist is trustworthy and caring Ability to prescribe meds should play a minimal role Important to find someone who is both empathetic and experienced Not enough people available to provide traditional one on one psychotherapy for all who need it

question

Technology-based Treatments

answer

Use minimal contact with therapists Relies on technology to provide some form of psychological treatment

Psychology Chapter 15.1 – Flashcards

Unlock all answers in this set

Haven't found what you were looking for?

Search for samples, answers to your questions and flashcards