treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth
psychotherapy
an approach to psychotherapy that uses techniques from various forms of therapy
eclectic growth
Freud’s therapeutic techniques; designed to release previously repressed feelings allowing the patient to gain self-insight; assumed problem is unconscious forces and childhood experiences; uses analysis and interpretation
psychoanalysis
relaxation; the therapist sits out of sight and waits for you to say what comes to mind
free association
the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material
resistance
the analyst’s noting supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors and events in order to promote insight
interpretation
suggesting a dream meaning after hearing the dream
dream analysis
the patient’s transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships
transference
therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition that views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences, and that seeks to enhance self-insight; addresses current issues through childhood events
psychodynamic therapy
a variety of therapies that aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing the client’s awareness of underlying motives and defenses; focus on the present instead of the past, conscious rather than unconscious, taking immediate responsibility, and promoting growth instead of curing
insight therapies
a humanistic therapy in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate client’s growth; assumed problem is barriers to self-understanding and self-acceptance
client-centered therapy
empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies
active listening
a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Rogers believed would help clients to develop self-awareness and self-acceptance
unconditional positive regard
therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors
behavior therapy
a behavior therapy procedure that uses classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors
counterconditioning
behavior techniques that treat anxieties by exposing people to the things they fear and avoid
exposure therapy
a type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli; used to treat phobias
systematic desensitization
an anxiety treatment that progressively exposes people to simulations of their greatest fears
virtual reality exposure therapy
a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state with an unwanted behavior
aversive conditioning
trying to change behavior; using reinforcement, punishment, or ignoring to shape behaviors
behavior modification
an operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token of some sort for exhibiting a desired behavior and can later exchange the tokens for various privileges or treats
token economy
therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting; assumed problem is negative, self-defeating thinking; aims to reveal and reverse self-blaming
cognitive therapy
one miniscule negative belief changes into a lot of negative beliefs
catastrophizing beliefs that are a part of Beck’s therapy for depression
a popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy with behavior therapy
cognitive-behavioral therapy
involves people with a similar life event or similar psychological disorder
group therapy
therapy that treats the family as a system; views an individual’s unwanted behaviors as influenced by, or directed at, other family members; assumed problem is stressful relationships; aims to heal those relationships and improve communication
family therapy
the tendency for extreme or unusual scores to fall back toward their average
regression toward the mean
not super reliable, and more likely to give praise
client’s perceptions
might still be in contact with the client
clinician’s perceptions
a procedure for statistically combing the results of many different research studies
meta-analysis
clinical decision-making that integrates the best available research with clinical expertise and patient characteristics and preferences
evidence-based practice
often used for PTSD
eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
used to treat SAD (seasonal affective disorder)
light exposure therapy
prescribed medications or medical procedures that act directly on the patient’s nervous system
biomedical therapies
study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior
psychopharmacology
drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other forms of severe thought disorder; blocks dopamine receptors
antipsychotic drugs
treated by antipsychotic drugs
schizophrenia and psychoses
type of antipsychotic drug
chlorpromazine
involuntary movements of facial muscles, tongue, and limbs; a possible neurotoxic side effect of long-term use of antipsychotic drugs that target certain dopamine receptors
tardive dyskinesia
drugs used to control anxiety and agitation; depressants
antianxiety drugs
Xanax, Ativan, cycloserine
specific antianxiety drugs
drugs used to treat depression; different types work by altering the availability of various neurotransmitters
antidepressant drugs
works both to increase both serotonin and norepinephrine
dual antidepressant
taken by people with bipolar disorder; Lithium and depakote
mood-stabilizing medications
a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electrical current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
the application of repeated pulses of magnetic energy to the brain; used to stimulate or suppress brain activity
repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)
surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior
psychosurgery
once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients; cuts nerves connecting the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain
lobotomy
requires a two-year masters in social work plus postgraduate supervision
clinical or psychiatric social worker
psychologists with a PhD or PsyD and expertise in research, assessment, and therapy, supplemented by a supervised internship, and post-doctoral training
clinical psychologists
physicians who specialize in the treatment of psychological disorders; not necessarily have a lot of training in psychotherapy, but can prescribe medications
psychiatrists