Major Approaches to Therapy

1. Major Approaches to Therapy .

2. Approaches to Therapy • Psychoanalytic • Behaviorism • Humanism • Group • Cognitive • Biological/Biomedical

3. Psychoanalysis • Psychoanalysis is the form of treating psychological disorders, invented by Freud. • It is famous for the couch.

4. A. What are Psychoanalytic methods of therapy (4 of them): • 1. Free Association – patient reports anything that comes to his/her mind. • The psychoanalyst listens for links & themes that might tie the patient’s thoughts or remarks together.

5. B.Dream analysis: • Dreams have two types of content: • Manifest content- actual events in dream. • Latent content – hidden message in dream. • Freud thought that each dream represents a form of wish fulfillment. The wish may be disguised, but it is always there.

6. C. Transference • Feelings of love or other emotions (hatred) are expressed toward the therapist. • These feelings are actually unconsciously felt toward others; the patient is transferring these feelings onto the therapist. • This provides clues about the client’s feelings about these other people.

7. Psychoanalysis summary • All methods deal with accessing the unconscious mind • Psychoanalysis is therapist-centered, meaning the therapist has all the answers, not the patient.

8. Behaviorism

9. Behavioral therapy • Systematic desensitization – involves 1) Learning to associate what you fear with something relaxing or pleasant (counterconditioning) & 2. gradual exposure to the fear in steps (ex. first a photograph, then face-to-face, etc.)

10. Behavioral therapy • Aversive conditioning – There is a drug called Antabuse. When mixed with alcohol, it makes you sick. Motivated alcoholics will take this pill and begin to associate the sickness with alcohol and possibly stop drinking.

11. Humanism

12. Humanism • Carl Rogers revolutionized talk therapy. • His therapy is client-centered, where the client has all the answers instead of the therapist. • Therapists treat the client with unconditional positive regard (accepts / supports the client regardless of what he / she says or does).

13. Group Therapy Ex. AA

14. Cognitive Psychology

15. Cognitive Perspective • It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems. • Cognitive therapy is about changing the maladaptive (harmful) thoughts of a person.

16. Cognitive perspective on depression • We are depressed because we are irrational. Our expectations are too high and misplaced. We want everyone to love us and accept us. We want everything to go our way.

17. Cognitive perspective on depression • We stay angry about stuff that happened a looong time ago. WE MUST CHANGE THE WAY WE THINK TO BE HAPPY AND SUCCESSFUL.

18. Cognitive Therapy • Cognitive therapy is about changing the maladaptive (bad) thoughts. • Aaron Beck is famous for a cognitive approach to trying to solve depression

19. Cognitive Therapy • They challenged his patients to ask, “Are my thoughts realistic or rational?” Cognitive therapy also “educates” the client, teaches him/her proper behaviors/thoughts

20. Biological Perspective • This perspective is among the most respected right now. They focus on our brain, nervous system, neurotransmitters and hormones to explain our behaviors.

21. Biological Perspective • Ex. schizophrenia associated with high levels of dopamine • Depression associated with low levels of serotonin

22. Surgeries • The Lobotomy damages your frontal lobe to relieve you of anxiety. – • no longer used because not considered ethical / humane

23. Common medicines • Prozac – antidepressant – blocks reuptake of serotonin. • Xanax – anti-anxiety (side effect of drowsiness) • Lithium – treats bipolar disorder