Transcript Behavior Therapies

Chapter 17 pt. 1: Psychoanalysis,
Humanistic, and Behaviorism
Therapies
 Imagine
a good friend of yours has
approached you about a problem he or
she has developed recently. The friend
describes several symptoms, including
increased feelings of depression, crying
spells, loss of interest in activities, and
changes in eating and sleeping patterns.
You have asked enough questions to
assume the person is clinically depressed.
Assume the role of therapist and develop
some possible interventions. Come up
with 3 possible ideas to help your friend.
2 Major Types of Therapy
 1.
Psychological
Therapies: employ
interaction (usually verbal)
between trained
professional and a client
with a problem
 2.
Biomedical:
therapies directed at a
patient’s nervous system.
VS.
Psychotherapy Differs Depending
on the Perspective of Therapist
 Psychotherapy:
emotionally charged,
confiding interaction between a trained
therapist and someone who suffers from
psychological difficulties.
 There are different types based on
personality theories we discussed:
 1. Psychoanalytic
 2. Humanistic
 3. Behavioral
 4. Cognitive
Eclectic Approach Takes a
Smorgasbord Approach
 Eclectic
Approach: uses a variety of
different techniques from various theories
of therapy depending on the problem of
the individual.

More than half of therapists take this approach.
Insight Therapies
 All
insight therapies agree that their goal
is to help clients develop insight about the
cause of their problems and that insight
will lead to behavior change; problems
decrease as self-awareness increases.
 Insight Therapies Include:
–1. Psychoanalytic (Psychodynamic)
–2. Humanistic (Client Centered)
– 3. Cognitive
 Most
often used to treat depression,
eating disorders, and marital problems.
Psychotherapy One:
Psychoanalysis
 Psychoanalysis’
 Goal
main assumption?
of psychoanalysis?
How do Psychoanalysts Unmask
Your “Repressed Anxiety?”
1. While doing free association there will be
blocks in your flow. Analysts interpret these
blocks as Resistance.
– Resistance: the blocking from
consciousness of anxiety-laden material.
– Based on your resistance the analysts will
try to provide accurate interpretations:
noting supposed meaning behind blocks in
flow to provide patient with insight (reason
behind your problems).
 2. Psychoanalysts also interpret dreams’
latent content (underlying meaning).

How do Psychoanalysts Unmask
Your “Repressed Anxiety?”
 3.
Interpreting Transference
–After revealing extremely personal
things about themselves to therapists,
patients often start to feel positive or
negative feelings towards their analyst.
–Freud argued that the feelings you feel
towards a therapist represented
transference: patient’s transfer to the
analyst of emotions linked with other
relationships (such as love or hatred for
a parent).
Criticism of Psychoanalytic
Therapy
 1.
Built on assumption that repressed
memories exist.
 2. Interpretations can not be proven
right or wrong.
 3. Is very time-consuming and
costly…usually takes several years to
achieve insight.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy as an
Alternative To Psychoanalysis
 Interpersonal
Psychotherapy: occurs
in much shorter session and also aims to
to help patients gain insight into the roots
of their difficulties.
 However instead of focusing on past, this
approach focuses on current relationships
and how to deal with problems….looking
for symptom relief instead of personality
change.
Psychotherapy Two:
Humanistic Approach
 Humanistic
perspective hopes to boost
self-fulfillment by helping people grow
in self-awareness and self
acceptance.
Main Focuses:
 1. The present and future
 2. Conscious Rather than Unconscious
Thoughts
 3. Individual Responsibility (free will) for
feelings
 4. Promote growth instead of cures.

Carl Rogers’ Client or Person
Centered Therapy
 Most
widely used humanistic technique is
client (person) centered therapy:
technique which involves active listening
within a genuine, accepting, empathetic
environment to facilitate clients’ growth.
 Active listening: technique in which
therapist is non-directive towards client
and empathizes with them by echoing,
restating, and clarifying their feelings.
Client Centered Therapy
Promotes Self-Awareness
 When
given
unconditional
positive regard
clients start to
accept themselves
including their
faults and feel
more valued and
whole.
Psychotherapy Three: Behavior
Therapies Focus on Learning
 Unlike previous 2 psychotherapies,
behavior therapies are not interested in
the underlying cause of the problem or in
achieving self-awareness.
 Behavior Therapies: assume the
problems are the behaviors themselves
and look to use well-established learning
principles to eliminate the unwanted
behavior. Usually used to treat anxiety
disorders, drug addictions, bedwetting,
sexual dysfunctions, and autism.
Behavior Affects Biology
 Biofeedback: uses a
system that records
physiological processes such
as heart rate, muscle
tension, and skin
temperature.
 Patient can use immediate
information to see degree
which they can change
anxiety-related responses to
lessen physiological arousal.
Classical Conditioning
Techniques
 Argue
that learned responses like phobias
can be unlearned through
counterconditioning.
 Counterconditioning: behavior
therapy that conditions new responses to
stimuli that trigger your unwanted
behaviors.
 Ex: pair fear of heights with relaxing
stimuli.
Two Types of Counterconditioning:
Systematic Desensitization and Aversive
Conditioning
1. Systematic Desensitization: exposure
technique used to commonly treat phobias.
Associates a pleasant relaxed state with
gradually increasing anxiety-triggering
stimuli until anxiety towards stimuli is
eliminated.
 Goal is to extinguish previously learned
response.
 Key to enacting procedure is move
gradually.
 Also called Graduated Exposure Theory

Anxiety Hierarchy
 Before
beginning the process of
systematic desensitation: therapists have
patients create an anxiety hierarchy:
list of fears related to phobia from least to
most terrifying. Ex: School Phobia
–1. Thinking about school (least
terrifying)
–2. Riding the bus
–3. Walking the halls
–4. Sitting in class (most terrifying)
More Aggressive Exposure
Therapy
 Flooding:
involves
immediately exposing
client to a stimulus that
causes undesirable
response to show that
stimulus isn’t
dangerous.
 Flooding can lead to
extinction of fear.
Less Aggressive Exposure Therapy
(Not in Book)
 Implosion:
patient
imagines stimulus
rather than being
exposed to actual
negative
stimulus…hopes to
reduce anxiety.
 Usually used as first
step in systematic
desensitization.
Using Virtual Reality For
Exposure Therapy

Second Type of
Counterconditioning
 2.
Aversive Conditioning: is the
opposite of systematic desensitization.
Looks to reverse a negative behavior by
associating an unpleasant state with an
unwanted behavior.
How Could We Use Aversive
Conditioning To Reform a
Convicted Child Molester?
Aversive Therapy for
Alcoholics
UCS
(drug)
UCR
(nausea)
CS
(alcohol)
UCS
(drug)
UCR
(nausea)
CS
(alcohol)
CR
(nausea)
Although
initially
successful
why doesn’t
aversive
therapy
usually stop
people from
permanently
drinking?
Operant Conditioning Therapy
 What

is Operant Conditioning?
Token Economy: procedure
that rewards desired behavior.
Patient exchanges a token of
some sort, earned for good
behavior, for various privileges
or treats.
Observational Learning’s
Impact on Therapy
 Bandura’s
theories on modeling were
extended to therapy when it was shown
that Clients learn through observation of
appropriate behavior (and Rewards) and
will be encouraged to imitate the
behavior.
Criticism of Behavior Therapy?