Domain 7 Application of

Psychological Science

Part 1Treatment of Psychological

Disorders

+ Psychological Biomedical

I. Psychotherapy

A. Therapy – refers to the treatment of behavioral, bodily, or psychological disorders.

B. Individuals trained to deal with psychological problems of others include– Psychologist – Psychiatrists – Social workers

C. These individuals provide special therapy called: psychotherapy – a treatment used by therapist to help troubled individuals overcome their problems.

- “psychotherapy” literally means “healing the soul”

D. Psychotherapy involves: - Verbal interaction between therapist and client - Development of a supportive and trusting relationship- And an analysis by the therapist of the client’s problems including suggestions for over coming those problems.

E. Function of Psychotherapy - To help people examine their way of

living, to understand how their present way of living causes problems and to start living in new more beneficial ways.

F. Types of treatment: -Psychoanalysis -Humanistic Therapy -Cognitive Therapy -Behavioral Therapy -Biological approaches

II. Psychoanalysis

A. A type of therapy aimed at making patients aware of their unconscious motives so they can gain control over their behaviors.

B. Based on the theories of Sigmund Freud who believed psychological disturbances were due to anxiety caused by hidden conflicts among the unconscious components of one’s personality.

C. The goal of psychoanalysis is to make individuals aware of the unconscious impulses, desires, and fears causing their anxiety. D. Psychoanalysis is time consuming requiring an average of 600 sessions over many years.

E. Methods: - Free Association – a method used to examine the

unconscious in which the patient is instructed to say whatever comes into his or her mind.

- Dream Analysis – a technique used by psychoanalysts to interpret the content of patient’s dreams.

- Transference – the process experienced by the patient, of feeling toward an analyst or therapist the way he or she feels or felt toward some other important figure in his or her life.

III. Humanistic Therapy

A. Therapy that focuses on the value, dignity, and worth of each person; holds that healthy living is the result of realizing one’s full potential.

B. Humanistic psychologist stress the actualization of one’s unique potentials through personal responsibility and freedom of choice.

C. Methods: – Client-centered therapy – based on the theories

of Carl Rogers, this therapy depends on the person’s motivation toward growth and self-actualization.• Client centered therapist attempt to help individuals

recognize their own strengths and confidence, thereby learning to live effectively.

D. Techniques of Client-centered therapy - nondirective therapy – a technique in which

the therapist listens and encourages conversation but tries to avoid giving opinions.

- active listening – a technique in which the therapist listens and extracts main points from the clients rambling. The therapist and client then form a clearer picture of how the client really feels about the information.

- Unconditional positive regard – a therapist’s consistent expression of acceptance of the patient, no matter what the patient says and does.

IV. Cognitive Therapy

A. A therapy that focuses on changing the way people think to control emotions and behaviors.

B. Cognitive psychologist believe that faulty ways of thinking distort our behaviors, attitudes, and emotions.

C. Goal is to help patients change their way of thinking

D. Methods: - Rational – Emotive Therapy – Developed by

Albert Ellis this form of treatment is aimed at changing unrealistic assumptions about oneself and other people.

For example, John’s irrational belief is that his love interest, Jane, should not reject him. But John is feeling very sad and rejected because Jane turned him down for a dinner date and he thinks that he cannot stand this rejection and that it is just awful! Where is the proof that his belief that Jane should not reject him is true? There isn’t any. In fact, she did reject him, therefore, the irrational belief that she should not reject him is clearly false. If John did not hold his irrational belief about Janet in the first place, he would not feel overly sad or rejected.

- Beck’s Cognitive Therapy – introduced by Aaron T. Beck. This therapy also focuses on changing your illogical thoughts.

- Main difference between the two is in RET the therapist is presenting the

individual with the evidence to dispute his thought. In Beck’s therapy the therapist encourages the client to discover how their thinking is incorrect.

V. Behavior Therapies

A. A type of therapy in which the focus is on changing or modifying the behavior through conditioning techniques.

B. Behavioral therapist believe that a disturbed person is one who has learned to behave in undesirable ways and that any behavior that is learned can be unlearned.

C. The goal is to help the patient learn new behaviors.

D. Methods: - counterconditioning – pairs the stimulus that triggers an unwanted behavior with a new, more desirable behavior.

- Operant conditioning – based on the idea that behavior that is reinforced tends to be repeated, whereas behavior that is not reinforced tends to be extinguished.

VI. Cognitive-Behavior Therapy

A. Many therapist combine aspects of cognitive and behavior therapy. Cognitive-behavior therapy focuses on substituting healthy thoughts for negative thoughts and beliefs and changing disruptive behaviors in favor of healthy behaviors.

VII. Biological Approaches

A. Biological approaches to treatment assume there is an underlying physiological reason for the disturbed behavior, the faulty thinking, and the inappropriate emotions the person displays.

B. Because these treatments are medical physicians or psychiatrists typically administer them.

C. Methods: - Drug therapy – biological therapy that uses medications.

Examples: -antipsychotics - antidepressants - lithium carbonate - antianxiety drugs

– Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) – an electrical shock is sent through the brain to try to reduce symptoms of mental disturbances. • Proved effective in treating depression, mania, and

some types of schizophrenia. • No one knows exactly why it helps• It is seen as a controversial treatment

– Psychosurgery – a medical operation that destroys part of the brain to make the patient calmer and freer of symptoms. • Prefontal lobotomy is the most common however still

very rare. Less than 200 are performed in the U.S. each year