Therapy and Change
This chapter delves into various therapeutic concepts including transference and countertransference, where clients and therapists project feelings onto each other. It covers group therapy’s benefits and limitations, self-help groups like AA, and family therapy aimed at improving communication among family members. The text also explores psychoanalytic techniques such as free association and dream analysis, along with client-centered and cognitive-behavioral therapies. Additionally, it highlights the role of medications in drug therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, and art/play therapy in understanding clients’ concerns.
Therapy and Change
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Presentation Transcript
Therapy and Change Chapter 17
Be careful of: • Transference – the client feeling toward a therapist in the way that he/she feels about an important figure in his/her life • Countertransference – the therapist feeling toward a client in the way that he/she feels about an important figure in his/her life
Group Therapy • Group members work together with people who are struggling with the same issues • Advantage – group leaders can help more people • Disadvantage – less one on one time (if any) • Self-Help Groups – more specific type of group therapy with a professional therapist leading the group (Ex. AA)
Family Therapy • Index person – the one who brings everyone to therapy • Designed to help increase communication amongst family members so that issues can be resolved in a fair way
Free Association • School of thought: Psychoanalysis (psychoanalysis is long term – it takes years) • During session the client says whatever comes to mind (no filter) • Goal – unconscious feels to become conscious • Resistance – “drawing a blank,” can’t think of what to say; analyst finds anxieties here
Dream Analysis • School of Thought: Psychoanalysis • Finding unconscious thoughts through dreams • Manifest content – what you remember about your dream • Latent content – hidden meaning of dream (symbolic) • www.dreammoods.com
Dream Analysis – Common Themes • Naked – fear of being vulnerable, ashamed of something (usually unnoticed by others) • Teeth – anxiety about appearance, putting faith in something besides God, family member or friend is close to death, telling lies • Falling – insecurities and anxieties, sense of failure or inferiority • Flying – if enjoying then you have overcome a situation; if you have trouble flying then you have trouble controlling your current situation; if you are afraid of flying then you are afraid of challenges and success
Client-Centered Therapy • School of Thought: Humanist (self-actualization) • Nondirective therapy – the client decides what should be discussed and what direction therapy should go through: - Active listening – restating what had been said - Unconditional Positive Regard – acceptance no matter what
Rational – Emotive Therapy • School of Thought: Cognitive • Goal is to correct false and self-defeating beliefs • Techniques: role playing, humor, ABC method (Activating event, Belief, Consequent Emotion – goal is to change B)
Counterconditioning • School of Thought: Behaviorist • Pairing relaxation with fearful situations – eventually overcoming the anxiety • Systematic desensitization – Step by step process to overcome fearEx. Fear of snakes 1. Look at picture of snake. 2. See snake on TV. 3. See snake at the zoo (in a cage). 4. Touch snake while someone else holds it. 5. Hold snake. • Works well with OCD too
Cognitive-Behavior Therapy • School of Thought: Behavior • Changing behavior by changing the way the client looks at the current situation • Emphasis on setting goals and positive thoughts
Drug Therapy • School of Thought: Biological • Antipsychotics – medication to reduce hallucinations, delusions, etc (blocks dopamine) • Antidepressants – used to regulate neurotransmitters to decrease depression • Lithium – used to reduce symptoms of bipolar disorder • Antianxiety drugs – regulates neurotransmitters to reduce anxiety (many antidepressants are used for anxiety patients)
Electroconvulsive Therapy • School of Thought: Biological • Brief shocks into brain to treat manic episodes, severe depression, and some types of schizophrenia
Psychosurgery • School of Thought: Biological • Very rare (less than 200 done in 1997) • Patients who are very violent, have extreme depression or schizophrenia may receive a lobotomy (destroying frontal lobe) • This takes away the inability to plan, making the patient less threatening, but also less able to function
Art/Play Therapy • School of Thought: Behavior • Allow child in a room full of toys and watch how they play (what they play with, how they treat the toys, etc.) as a basis to what issues they may have, and how to treat them • Use drawing/painting/other art forms as a way to express oneself and deal with issues