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8
Apr/10

Psychoanalysis

by admin under Psychotherapy, psychoanalysis

 Psychoanalysis is the oldest formal therapeutic treatment developed by Dr. Sigmund Freud in the early twentieth century.  In this treatment, the therapist helps the patient become more aware of unconscious influences stemming from childhood experiences.  The theory is that by figuring out and understanding the impact of one’s early traumas that the person will become more stable (healed?) in the present.  Traditional psychoanalysis treatment can last several years with sessions scheduled four or five times a week.  A major part of psychoanalysis is the examination of a person’s defense mechanisms.  Usually medication therapy is not used with psychoanalysis.

Key Elements to Treatment Include Analyzing These Conditions:

Transference is when a patient transfers feelings and reactions from the  past onto the therapist.  The person then begins to understand how his past is linked to his present emotional functioning.

Countertransference is when a therapist transfers feelings and reactions from the past onto the patient. 

Resistance is the reluctance to think about or even discuss some topic. Analyzing a patient’s resistances provide clues to the most traumatic, sensitive areas in a person’s past.  These areas are where the therapeutic work needs to be focused.

Psychoanalysts use the techniques of free association (where the patient talks about anything that comes to mind) and dream analysis to help uncover the buried, unconscious, repressed childhood memories.

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8
Apr/10

Marital Therapy

by admin under Marital Therapy, Psychology

 Marital therapy focuses on relationship problems between two people.

Relationship problems can stem from individual issues that each person brings to the marriage (union)) and from the way the couple interacts with each other.

In marital therapy, a psychologist will help partners identify rough areas.  Each may be asked to examine what the conflicts are, what changes need to be made, and what it will take for both to feel more satisfied.

The couple will likely learn different ways to cope with personal issues and new ways of interacting within the relationship.  Marital therapy teaches people how to communicate more effectively and how to listen better.  It also teaches that each person in the relationship needs to feel important.  Partners learn how to find common goals, stop competing with each other, express romantic feelings, equally divide labor, express emotion in a healthy way, show appreciation for one another, and to share responsibility.

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8
Apr/10

Interpersonal Therapy IPT

by admin under Interpersonal Therapy, Psychology

Interpersonal therapy (IPT) is used for the treatment of depression. IPT research has shown that combined with medication it is superior to no active psychology treatment or to medication alone.

IPT focuses on interpersonal relationships, improving communication skills, and self-esteem.  It is a present focused therapy.  Treatment goals spot light current, specific problems that need to be attended to.  To fix these problems, the patient is taught new skills.  Treatment can be either short-term or long-term.  An Interpersonal therapist’s work pays close  attention to these four areas:

Grief – The way that a person handles his or her grief can have a major impact on interpersonal relationships.

Interpersonal disputes – Ongoing, unresolved fighting in one context will be disruptive to other areas of mental functioning.  These disputes may be the underlying cause of other types of emotional problems.

Interpersonal deficits – Communication skills (or lack of  them) always  affect interpersonal relationships.  If someone is negative as a general rule and constantly belittles friends, families, or co-workers imagine how his relationships with suffer.

Role transition  – Whenever a person’s role changes (like starting a new job or becoming a parent) there is usually an increase in stress.  This change can affect interpersonal relationships. Therapy helps reduce the stress and facilitate a smoother transition.

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8
Apr/10

Humanistic Therapy

by admin under Humanistic Therapy, Psychology

Humanistic psychology evolved in the 1960s in reaction to psychodynamic psychology and behaviorism.  Humanists though that the psychodynamic view of understanding human behavior was pessimistic because it sees the selfish pursuit of pleasure as the root of all human behavior.  They also thought that the behaviorist’s view that human behavior comes from environmental influences alone was simplistic and inaccurate. Humanists objected to both the psychodynamic and behaviorists view that behavior is determined by factors beyond personal control.  In contrast, humanists believe in  people’s inner potential and the ability to determine their own destinies. The ultimate goal for humanistic psychologists is to help people realize their full potential and live up to their abilities.

The “person-centered” approach to therapy was first started by Carl Rogers.  This is also called Rogerian therapy.  Person centered therapy is based on the belief that all people carry their answers within them and that all are capable of having fulfilled lives.  What is needed is guidance to help them trust their own experiences and to believe in their own potential.  These therapists believe that abnormal behavior comes from a person’s failure to trust their inner experience, resulting in a distorted or inaccurate view of themselves.  The aim of therapy is for self-understanding and self-acceptance.  Therapy happens by conveying unconditional acceptance, empathy, and warmth showing that no matter what the client says or does, the client is still a worthwhile person.

Another influential theory of humanistic psychology was developed by Abraham Maslow.  Maslow believed that people are innately good and so naturally driven to develop their potential or to achieve “self-actualization.”  He believed that people are driven by a hierarchy of needs that must be fulfilled in a particular sequence in order for self-actualization to occur.  First, physiological and safety needs must be met. Then people need to feel a sense of belonging.  Once this is achieved, people work on their self-esteem needs and then finally self-actualization.  Maslow believed that psychological problems result from a difficulty in fulfilling the self-esteem needs, which then block self-actualization. Therapy‘s focus is to correct inaccurate self views, improve self-esteem, and but people on the true path toward self-actualization.

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8
Apr/10

Family Therapy

by admin under Family Therapy, Psychology

Family therapy is a special type of therapy because it focuses on changes and relationships within the family.  It is based upon a systems point of view.  This means that whatever goes on in one part of the system will directly effect every other part of the system.  If there is something wrong (ie. a child on drugs who is causing turmoil in the family) in one part of the system, intervention somewhere else (ie parents learning and practicing tough love) can fix the whole system (family).  If there is a change in the family pattern as a whole, then the entire family can change.

Family therapy believes that family relationships have an impact on the feelings, behavior and psychological adjustment of every other family member.  Unlike individual therapy, all family members are included in the therapy process.

Family therapy is common for families with children and adolescents that have psychological problems.  It is also useful when an adult family member has a problem that effects the entire family (like alcohol abuse or depression).

The combined treatment sessions of parent, family, and play therapy are often useful for younger children.  Work with the parents might include teaching new parenting skills for problem behaviors.  Play therapy helps the child express emotions in a more acceptable way.  This allows the child to grow, improving self-control, self-esteem, communication, and social skills.  As a child’s self awareness grows so does his happiness.  Family therapy helps everyone impacted by the child’s behavior through conflict resolution and emotional healing.

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8
Apr/10

Cognitive Behavior Therapy

by admin under Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Psychology

Cognitive-Behavior Therapy is a type of therapy that combines ideas from the cognitive and behavioral modalities.  Cognitive-behaviorists believe that thinking, questioning and then taking actions will lead to the changes needed for recovery.  Learning to change the way you think about your life will help you change way you act.  If you learn to change your thoughts, you can change what you do and say.  Ideally, your new thought and action choices will lead to a better reception by others in the world around you.  If people receive you better, you will become more successful in relationships, business, family, and social endeavors. 

Some techniques involve: changing negative thoughts to positive ones and destructive behaviors to behaviors that will lead to the outcome that you want.  Cognitive-behavioral therapists use many tactics like; humor, role playing, and homework in an arsenal to help you make positive life changes.  They ask you to challenge your interpretations of your life and to rethink self attacking feelings of shame and guilt.  The self defeating self labels and name calling are not important.  Instead, assessing your situations, making a realistic plan to get rid of the negative and accent the positive, and then to implement the new plan of living is the real path to happiness.  Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy is present and future focused.

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8
Apr/10

Cognitive Therapy

by admin under Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Therapy, Psychology

Cognitive therapy focuses on identifying and changing negative thinking patterns.

Since thoughts and feelings are believed to be linked together, the way a person thinks can affect the way a person feels.  Sometime thoughts happen quicker than someone can realize.  Instead, this person only  notices the feeling.  These thoughts are considered “automatic.”  If these thoughts are negative, they can cause problems in a person’s view of himself and the world around him … leading to behavioral consequences (like poor performance, low self-esteem).  Cognitive therapist believe that the way to change feelings (or attitudes, or behaviors) is to change the preceding negative automatic thought(s).   

Cognitive psychotherapists are present, thought focused clinicians.  You won’t catch them looking very far back into childhoods.  They teach how to recognize negative thinking patterns and negative automatic thoughts.  By examining thought distortions, people can learn how to modify them and change their reactions to them.  People are often asked to keep a log of their thoughts and feelings to later use with their therapist to identify dysfunctional thinking patterns.  Then, these patients practice their new cognitive strategies in real life, discuss the outcomes with their therapist, and make any needed changes as they go along. Cognitive therapy is usually rather brief lasting for approximately 10 to 20 sessions.

Many are considered Cognitive-Behavioral therapists.  This style combines behavior therapy techniques (such as relaxation training) with effective cognitive techniques (such as thought restructuring) artfully together.

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8
Apr/10

Behavior Therapy

by admin under Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Psychology

Behavior therapy focuses on what you do. This is an excellent treatment choice for recurrent behavior problems such as anxiety disorders, drug, alcohol, eating disorders and other substance abuse disorders, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Behavior therapy focuses on changing destructive, self-defeating actions. Behaviors can change for the better through positive reinforcement of desired deeds and by ignoring the negative ones.  Positive reinforcement techniques are often an integral part of effective parenting programs. 

Some other common types of behavior therapy techniques include:

Systematic Desensitization– Facing anxiety producing situations head on, but in gradual steps, can help a person become desensitized to the worry (or fear).  It includes: Relaxation – Deep breathing and muscle tensing and relaxing, guided imagery to pleasant, peaceful mental places, and biofeedback training.  Creation of a Hierarchy – guided generation of a series of situations where the fear (anxiety) happens more and more   intensely.  Desensitization-  the relaxation techniques are used to get the person to progress further up the hierarchy until the worry is reduced.

Exposure Therapy- Uses the same method as systematic desensitization except without the relaxation techniques.  Flooding– here a person is   exposed to the most anxiety-causing event at once. With this technique the patient confronts the feared situation directly.

Some therapist combine behavioral techniques with cognitive therapy techniques, such as thought restructuring. These two theories work very well together especially when treating depression and anxiety disorders.

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8
Apr/10

Psychotherapy

by admin under Psychology, Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is a process that helps you look closely at your thoughts and feelings as they relate to your actions and relationships.  Professional clinicians can help you find out where problems exists, what you’ll need to do to become happier, and then help you make those changes.  Your psychologist (therapist) will help you understand what things help create  your problems, develop a plan to correct those problems, and assist you in making your personal, life changes.  In many ways, a psychotherapist is an educator, a coach, a listener, and a motivator all in one.  In the end, you have to be willing to conduct an honest self appraisal and also be willing to work a plan.  Your therapist can help you assess your situation and can make many suggestions, but you are responsible for putting the plan into action in order to meet your new life goals. 

Therapy appointments are usually scheduled once a week.

Change takes time and information has to be processed.

“Homework” is often assigned between sessions in the form of light, easy task that keep you focused on your therapeutic path.

Here are some examples where psychotherapy can help:

You feel overwhelmed by the problems in your life.

You have too much worry, sadness, anger or fear.

You need help in making a major decision.

You are having trouble in your relationships.

Your job (family) is too stressful and you want to know what to do.

You don’t want to burden friends, yet you need someone soon.

Someone you know is sick or has died and you could use support.

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