The writer is very fast, professional and responded to the review request fast also. Thank you.
Book/movie review
22/08/2022
PSY 111: Introduction to Psychology Learning Unit 10: Handout
Page 1 of 2
What are Today’s Psychotherapies?
There are many kinds of psychotherapy, with each having certain common characteristics.
Psychotherapy is a systematic interaction between therapist and a client that applies psychological
principles to affect the client’s thoughts, feelings, or behavior in an effort to help the client overcome
psychological disorders, adjust to problems in living, or develop as an individual.
There are six major forms of psychotherapies based on different theories of human nature. They are
Psychoanalytic, Humanistic, Behavioral, Cognitive, and Group therapies.
The first formal psychotherapy to emerge was psychoanalysis, developed by Sigmund Freud. In this type
of therapy the aim is to bring repressed feelings into conscious awareness where the patient can deal
with them. When energy devoted to id-ego-superego conflicts is released, the patient’s anxiety lessens.
This type of therapy is hard to refute because it cannot be proven or disproven. It takes a long time and
is very expensive.
Humanistic Therapies, are considered a more modern approach to therapy that boosts self-fulfillment
by helping people grow in self-awareness and self-acceptance. An example of this type of therapy is the
Client-Centered method developed by Carl Rogers. When using this type of therapy, the therapist listens
to the needs of the patient in an accepting and non-judgmental way, addressing problems in a
productive way, and building his or her self-esteem. The therapist engages in active listening and
echoes, restates, and clarifies the patient’s thinking, acknowledging expressed feelings.
Behavior Therapy applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors. To treat phobias
or sexual disorders, behavior therapists do not delve deeply below the surface looking for inner causes.
Sometimes Exposure Therapy is used by exposing patients to things they fear and avoid. Through
repeated exposures, anxiety lessens because the habituate to the things feared. Operant Conditioning
can also be used to modify behavior. Desired behaviors are rewarded and undesired behaviors are
either unrewarded or punished.
Cognitive Therapy teaches people adaptive ways of thinking and acting based on the assumption that
thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions. Aaron Beck suggests that depressed
patients believe they can never be happy and thus associate minor failings like failing a test in life as
major causes for their depression. Beck further believes that cognitions such as “I can never be happy”
need to change in order for depressed patients to recover. This change is brought about by gently
questioning patients. Cognitive therapists often combine the reversal of self-defeated thinking with
efforts to modify behavior. Cognitive-behavior therapy aims to alter the way people act and alter the
way they think.
Group Therapy is often used which normally consists of 6-9 people attending a 90-
minute session that can help more people and costs less. Clients benefit from knowing others have
PSY 111: Introduction to Psychology Learning Unit 10: Handout
Page 2 of 2
similar problems. Couple therapy helps couples enhance their relationship by improving their
communication skills and helping them manage conflict. Family Therapy treats the family as a system.
Family members are guided toward positive relationships and improved communication.
Biological therapies, also known as drug therapy, applies what is known of people’s biological structures
and processes to the improvement of psychological disorders. Antianxiety drugs are usually prescribed
for outpatients who complain of generalized anxiety or panic attacks. People with schizophrenia are
often given antipsychotic drugs. People with major depression often take antidepressant drugs. These
drugs are also helpful for some people with eating disorders, panic disorder, OCD, and social phobias.
Today, Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is primarily used for patients with major depression who do not
respond to antidepressants. People typically obtain one ECT treatment three times a week for up to 10
sessions. A side effect of ECT is memory loss.
Lobotomies have long since been discontinued in the United States. The prefrontal lobotomy, has been
used with people with severe disorders. A pick like (ice pick) instrument severs the nerve pathways that
link the prefrontal lobes of the brain to the thalamus. It is intended to sever thought from emotion and
enable severely disturbed patients to regain control. A current psychosurgery is the gamma knife
surgery. Physicians beam streams of radiation deep into the skull, destroying spots of tissue believed to
be overactive in severe OCD.
When analyzing the effectiveness of psychotherapies, we have to realize that there is some common
ground that includes a hope for people, a new perspective, and an empathic, trusting, and caring
relationship. It is proven that evidence-based psychotherapies have survived overtime along with drug
therapies.
© Debra Vos and Indian Hills Community College
The writer is very fast, professional and responded to the review request fast also. Thank you.
Delivering a high-quality product at a reasonable price is not enough anymore.
That’s why we have developed 5 beneficial guarantees that will make your experience with our service enjoyable, easy, and safe.
You have to be 100% sure of the quality of your product to give a money-back guarantee. This describes us perfectly. Make sure that this guarantee is totally transparent.
Read moreEach paper is composed from scratch, according to your instructions. It is then checked by our plagiarism-detection software. There is no gap where plagiarism could squeeze in.
Read moreThanks to our free revisions, there is no way for you to be unsatisfied. We will work on your paper until you are completely happy with the result.
Read moreYour email is safe, as we store it according to international data protection rules. Your bank details are secure, as we use only reliable payment systems.
Read moreBy sending us your money, you buy the service we provide. Check out our terms and conditions if you prefer business talks to be laid out in official language.
Read more