Chapter 17 pt. 1:
Psychoanalysis, Humanistic,
and Behaviorism Therapies
Agenda
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Finish Psychological Disorders (10)
Diagnosis Scenarios (10)
Notes: Therapies (20)
The situation in Prisons (15)
Therapy Chart (10)
AP Psych Review (15)
Prepare for Debate: Eugenics in Virginia (15)
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.
Pyschoanalysis
Aims:
– Uncover a person’s
unconscious drives that are
preventing a person from living
their life.
Method

Patients must attend
sessions every week
for 2-3 years.

Therapist uses Free
Association – asking
the patient to discuss
anything that comes
to mind.

Hypnosis can be
used.



Resistance: when a
patient blocks anxiety
provoking feelings.
– Job of therapist to
uncover the issue
causing anxiety
Transference: patients
can transfer positive or
negative feelings onto the
therapist
Catharsis: feeling of
release after sharing
intense feelings.
Criticism of Psychoanalytic
Therapy
 1.
Built on assumption that repressed
memories exist.
 2. Interpretations can’t 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
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.
Humanistic Approach
 AIM:
Humanistic perspective hopes to
boost self-fulfillment by helping people
grow in self-awareness and self
acceptance.
Main Focus:
 1. The present and future
 2. Conscious Rather than Unconscious
Thoughts
 3. Individual Responsibility for feelings
 4. Promote growth instead of cures.
Methods

Carl Rogers’ Client or Person Centered
Therapy:
– Most widely used humanistic technique. This
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.
Criticisms of Humanistic
Therapies
 The
methods are not perfect—the
therapist can still put their own
perspective on a client’s feelings.
Behavior Therapies: Aims
 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.
Behavioral Therapies Methods:
Classical Conditioning Techniques
 Learned
responses like phobias can be
unlearned through counter-conditioning.
 Counter-conditioning:
is a 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

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 is the process is gradual.
– Also called Graduated Exposure Theory
How could you use systematic
desensitization to help people
overcome their intense fear of
spiders?
Systematic Desensitization
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.
– Example: Curing nail biting by putting a nasty
tasting substance on your hand so that you avoid
biting your nails.
Aversive Therapy for
Alcoholics
Although initially
successful why
doesn’t aversive
therapy usually
stop people from
permanently
drinking?
UCS
(drug)
UCR
(nausea)
CS
(alcohol)
UCS
(drug)
UCR
(nausea)
CS
(alcohol)
CR
(nausea)
Operant Conditioning Therapy

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.
Discuss
 How
would you treat Captain
Hook using:
–Psychoanalysis
–Humanistic therapy
–Conditioning