Psych 383 Study Guide for Exam #1Definitions of Counseling & Psychotherapy:Know the types of activities in which clinicians are involved:Psychotherapy, assessment, teaching, supervision, research/writing, consultation, administration.Understand the main concepts embedded in the definitions of psychotherapy discussed in class & in P&N:“…problems of an emotional nature in which a trained person… with the object of removing, modifying, orretarding existing symptoms…”; involves disturbed patterns of behavior; patient with established relationship with aprofessional; “…adapted or individualized for the particular client and his or her disorder…”; “…involves a trained therapist & a client who has a mental disorder, problem, or complaint…”; “…for the purpose of assisting people to modify their behaviors, cognitions, emotions, and/or other personal characteristics in directions that the participants deem desirable.”; theory & assessment are key to being informed.Know the historical differences between counseling and psychotherapy:Shorter process, normal or mildly maladjusted clients, more problem- vs. person-oriented, teacher vs. detective, often considerable expertise in a particular area (e.g., marriage, alcohol, vocational).Overview of Counseling & Psychotherapy:Understand the definition and role of theory in psychotherapy:Provides an organized and consistent perspective on human behavior, psychopathology, and treatment; a good theory of psychotherapy creates the treatment goals and outlines a frame for how to pursue them; strict adherence – fit patient to theory; flexible application – fit theory to patient.Understand the different levels of theoretical abstraction:High = Global Theories (e.g., Freudian analysis, Rogerian Person-centered)Low = Specific Techniques (e.g., dream interpretation, exposure)**Middle = Change Processes (e.g., consciousness raising, catharsis)** likely most fruitful; argued to be most critical way to think of casesFamiliarize yourself with key terms in chapter 1 of P&N:Action therapies: the processes of conditional stimuli and contingency controlAwareness (insight) therapies: work with consciousness/consciousness raisingCatharsis: the therapeutic release of pent-up feelings and emotionsChoosing: power of choice in producing behavior changeCommon (nonspecific) factors: therapeutic commonalities shared by all forms of psychotherapy and not specific to any oneConsciousness raising: increasing an individual’s consciousnessContingency management: behavior changes are made by modifying the contingencies in the environmentCorrective emotional experiences: cathartic reactions come directly from within the personCounterconditioning: changing our behavior to the stimulusDramatic relief: the belief that cathartic reactions can be evoked by observing emotional scenes in the environmentEducation: when the info given a client concerns environmental eventsExpectation: the patient’s faith in the institution itself, the confidence in therapist & the treatmentFeedback: when the info given a client concerns the individual’s own actions and experiencesHawthorne effect: clients improve due to increases in morale, novelty, and esteem that come from having others attend to themIntegration: seeking what is useful and cordial in each therapy system rather than looking for what is mosteasily criticizedPlacebo: seek to induce positive expectations in clients; like giving a sugar pill instead of medicationProcesses of change: represent a middle level of abstraction between global theories and specific techniquesPsychotherapy: informed and intentional application of clinical methods and interpersonal stances derivedfrom established psychological principles for the purpose of assisting people to modify their behaviors, cognitions, emotions, and/or other personal characteristics in directions that the participants deem desirableReevaluation: modifying our internal responses to the external consequences without changing those consequencesSelf-liberation: choosing involves the individual becoming aware of new alternatives, including the deliberate creation of new alternatives for living; involves experiencing the anxiety inherent in being responsible for which alternative is followedSocial liberation: when changes in the environment make more alternatives available to individualsSpecific factors: unique factors in disparate psychotherapiesStimulus control: changing the environmentTheory: a set of statements used to explain the data in a given area; a consistent perspective on human behavior, psychopathology, and the mechanisms of therapeutic changeTherapeutic content: intrapersonal conflicts, interpersonal conflicts, individuo-social conflicts, beyond conflict to fulfillmentTranstheoretical: across theories; reduces the therapeutic morass to a manageable number of processes of changeA Brief History of Psychotherapy:Know the relevant history before psychology became a separate field (focus on what discussed in class):Greeks – biopsychosocial perspective (Hippocrates classified 4 temperaments)Middle Ages – supernatural perspectiveRenaissance – renewed interest in medicine (Descartes: mind-body split)Reform movements – earliest roots of clinical psychology (Pinel, Todd, Dix)Know the three eras (Victorian, turn of century to WWII, and WWII to present) and how the self & psychopathology were conceptualized in each of these eras (focus on what discussed in class):European Victorian (mid-late 19th century) – self = rational, calculating, disciplined, but also dangerous sexual & aggressive impulses; psychopathology (hysteria, neurasthenia, sexual perversion, violence); Freud’s drive theory (inappropriate impulse discharge, use of hypnosis to treat hysteria, launching pad for psychoanalysis) // American Victorian (mid-late 19th century) – self = rational, driven, & conflicted but also more optimistic & naïve (preoccupation with spiritual emptiness & moral confusion); rise of mesmerism as first type of psychotherapy in USA (hypnosis, telepathy, spiritual guidance, other mind-cure); most serious pathology = lack of economic productivityTurn of century to WWII (1900-1939) – psychoanalysis gaining momentum (medical profession claims exclusive rights); Freud lectures at Clark (1909); development of psychoanalytic training institutes & clinics in US; psychologist mostly confined to university counseling centers & child guidance clinics; early