Objectives Chapter 16 Psychological and Biological Treatments Pages 632 662 1 Know the aims methods and criticisms of psychoanalysis o Aims Bringing repressed feelings into consciousness brings healing o Methods Free Association and Dream Analysis o Criticisms Psychoanalysis is highly subjective its interpretations cannot be verified and its basic assumptions are not supported by research It is also highly time consuming and expensive 1 Contrast psychodynamic therapy with traditional psychoanalysis o Psychodynamic defending yourself against thoughts and feeling can be exhausting It s different from psychoanalysis because it says that conflicts involve social aspects of life and not unconscious sexual urges Psychodynamic theory also does not require years of therapy like psychoanalysis does 1 Know the basic characteristics of the humanistic therapies o Emphasis on the value of self awareness and self acceptance It s an exploration of current feelings Define yourself in terms of future goals and plans for personal growth 1 Explain how the basic assumption of behavior therapy differs from those of traditional psychoanalytic and humanistic therapies and describe the techniques used in exposure therapies and aversive conditioning o Traditional psychoanalysis and humanistic focus more on talking over the problems and trying to find the solution in yourself rather than confronting the problem head on through exposure or aversive conditioning Here you physically change the situation rather than just talk over the problem 1 Know the key assumption and treatment focus of cognitive therapists o Assumption that cognitive assessments of events is often the source of our distress Treatment includes getting people to think in fresh more constructive ways 1 Explain how cognitive behavior therapy integrates aspects of both cognitive and behavior therapies o CBT tries to address both problematic thoughts AND behavior CBT therapists encourage clients to purge negative thoughts and behave in mood incongruent ways go out and do something that makes you happy even though you re sad 1 Identify the defining features of group therapy including family therapy o Group therapy and family therapy are cheaper and offer the benefits of social context 1 Explain why clients and clinicians tend to overestimate the effectiveness of psychotherapy o People enter therapy in a crisis and people may believe that therapy was effective when in reality it may have been a good day by coincidence 1 Note the overall finding concerning the effectiveness of psychotherapies versus the outcome for people receiving no treatment found by meta analyses o Overall people who received treatment did better than those that didn t 1 Know how psychologists determine the best treatment for a given disorder o The DSM outlines the most effective treatment plans for each individual disorder 1 Define psychopharmacotherapy o Drug therapies work by changing brain chemistry 1 Describe the characteristics of anti anxiety and antidepressant drugs o Anti anxiety Reduces central nervous system activity and is often combined with psychotherapy like cognitive behavior therapy o Antidepressants Boost the availability of neurotransmitters that elevate mood also commonly used to treat anxiety disorders
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