Therapy

What types of psychological therapies are there? Psychoanalysis Humanistic therapy Behavior therapy Cognitive therapy Group & family therapy

Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud Assumes problems are created by childhood

memories, impulses and conflicts Psychoanalysis brings these childhood

memories and conflicts into consciousness to be “worked through” and resolved.

Psychoanalysis (cont.)

Therapist uses “free association” (say what comes to mind) and dream analysis (interpretation of latent content of dreams) to get at repressed impulses.

Problems with psychoanalysis– Difficult to determine effectiveness scientifically– Too lengthy - takes years with several sessions a

week.

Humanistic Therapy

Client Centered Therapy– Carl Rogers– Emphasizes your potential for self fulfillment– Focus on the present, not the past– Conscious not unconscious– You are responsible for your actions.

Client Centered Therapy (cont.)

Unconditional positive regard– I accept what you say without judgment

Active listening– Paraphrasing -Restate the ideas in your own

words.

Invite clarification - Do you have an example? I want to understand.

Reflect feelings - “That sounds frustrating?”

Client Centered Therapy (cont.)

Results– As therapist reflects unconditional positive

regard (acceptance), the clients begins to accept themselves and feel valued.

Behavior Therapy

Views problems as learned behavior, not based on unresolved childhood conflicts

Applies learning principles to eliminate unwanted behavior.

Classical conditioning

Bedwetting alarm pad

Systematic Desensitization

You can not be both relaxed and have high anxiety

Paring relaxation with what creates fear– Spider example

Aversive conditioning

Associates negative behavior with negative feelings

Mother spanks child for running into the street

Pedophiles & shock Alcohol & nausea

Token economy

Reward for positive behavior When patient makes his bed, he gets a token

(plastic coin) that can be exchanged for candy, T.V. viewing, etc.

Cognitive therapy

Cognitive therapy

Assumes: Thinking effects feelings Event - your mind - your response E.g. self-blame and overgeneralization of

negative events creates depression.

Cognitive therapy

Cognitive therapy

Group and Family Therapy

Group therapy– 6 - 10 people

– Often as effective as individual therapy

– Cheaper

– Allows a social content• Feedback from others

• You are not alone

Group and Family Therapy (Cont.) Support groups

– Not quite the same as group therapy

– No “therapist” - members support each other with a director

Family therapy– No person is an island

– The family is the patient - not just the person with the “symptoms”.

Evaluating Psychotherapies

How effective are psychotherapies?

Regression toward the mean– Will people get better anyway?

– The tendency for unusual events to return to normal

Alternative Therapies

Light Exposure Therapy– For seasonal affective Disorder (SAD)

– Winter depression

– Light boxes used in the morning appear to be effective.

Biomedical therapies

Effectiveness of drug therapies

Placebo effect– You get what you expect

– If you think something will help, often it does.

Double blind technique– Used to determine the extent of the placebo effect.

– Separating the direct effect of the drug from the expectations of its effectiveness.

E.g. Testing antianxiety medication.