Psychotherapy Psychotherapy – An emotionally charged, confiding interaction between a trained therapist and someone who suffers from psychological difficulties Psychotherapy integration - Most psychotherapists generally believe that disorders are an interplay of bio-psycho-social influences. Psychotherapists use a blend of therapies or an eclectic approach

Psychoanalytic Approach Psychoanalysis – Patient’s free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences – and therapists interpretation of them – release previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight Use has declined in recent years Resistance – Blocking from consciousness of anxiety laden material Transference – Redirecting feelings from one person to another (sometimes the therapist)

Humanist Therapy Person-Centered (non-directive therapy) Carl Rogers Active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathetic environment to facilitate clients’ growth Increase self-acceptance Active Listening Empathetic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies

Behavior Therapy Applies learning principles to eliminate unwanted behaviors Counter-conditioning Procedure that conditions new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviors Based on classical conditioning Systematic desensitization and aversive conditioning

Behavior Therapy Systematic Desensitization Type of counter-conditioning or exposure therapy Associates a pleasant, relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli Commonly used to treat phobias

Systematic desensitization is taken in small steps.

Behavior Therapy Flooding is one form of aggressive exposure therapy that forces the confrontation with the feared stimuli

Behavior Therapy Aversive Conditioning Type of counter-conditioning that associates an unpleasant state with an unwanted behavior Nausea - alcohol

Behavior Therapy Token Economy Operant conditioning procedure that rewards desired behavior Patient exchanges a token of some sort, earned for exhibiting the desired behavior, for various privileges or rewards

Behavioral Therapy Virtual Reality technology can be used to help people overcome their fears

Cognitive Therapy Teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting Based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions

Cognitive Behavior Therapy Alter the self-defeating thinking with efforts to modify behavior Make people aware of irrational thinking patterns

Eclectic Approach

Family Therapy Therapists hope to open up communication within the family and discover new ways of preventing and resolving conflicts Saves time and money

The more specific the problem, the more hope there is.

Biomedical Therapies Psychopharmacology Lithium Study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior Lithium Chemical that provides an effective drug therapy for the mood swings of bipolar disorder

Antidepressant Drugs Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) Ex: Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil Most widely prescribed psychiatric drugs

Therapy for severely afflicted patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient

Biomedical Therapies Psychosurgery Lobotomy Surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior Lobotomy – Now rare psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients