Module 70 REVIEW

• 70-1 How do psychotherapy and the biomedical therapies differ?

• Psychotherapy is treatment involving psychological techniques; it consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth.
• The major psychotherapies derive from psychology’s psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioral, and cognitive perspectives.
• An eclectic approach combines techniques from various forms of psychotherapy.
• Biomedical therapy treats psychological disorders with medications or procedures that act directly on a patient’s physiology.

• 70-2 What are the goals and techniques of psychoanalysis, and how have they been adapted in psychodynamic therapy?

• Through psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud tried to give people self-insight and relief from their disorders by bringing anxiety-laden feelings and thoughts into conscious awareness.
  • Techniques included using free association and interpretation of instances of resistance and transference.
• Contemporary psychodynamic therapy has been influenced by traditional psychoanalysis but is briefer, less expensive, and more focused on helping the client find relief from current symptoms.
  • Therapists help clients understand themes that run through past and current relationships.

• 70-3 What are the basic themes of humanistic therapy? What are the specific goals and techniques of Rogers’ client-centered approach?

• Both psychoanalytic and humanistic therapies are insight therapies—they attempt to improve functioning by increasing clients’ awareness of motives and defenses.
• Humanistic therapy’s goals have included helping clients grow in self-awareness and self-acceptance, promoting personal growth rather than curing illness, helping clients take responsibility for their own growth, focusing on conscious thoughts rather than unconscious motivations, and seeing the present and future as more important than the past.
• Carl Rogers’ client-centered therapy proposed that therapists’ most important contributions are to function as a psychological mirror through active listening and to provide a growth-fostering environment of unconditional positive regard, characterized by acceptance, genuineness, and empathy.

Multiple-Choice Questions

1. Dr. Carlson advises his depressed patients to discuss their childhood as well as their present lives. He also prescribes medications for them. His therapeutic style would be best described as
   1. eclectic.
   2. biomedical.
   3. psychoanalytic.
   4. transference.
   5. psychodynamic.
2. What do psychodynamic therapists call the blocking of anxiety-laden material from conscious awareness?
   1. Resistance
   2. Interpretation
   3. Transference
   4. Face-to-face therapy
   5. Interpersonal psychotherapy
3. Which of the following is one of the ways humanistic therapies differ from psychoanalytic therapies?
   1. Humanistic therapies believe the past is more important than the present and future.
   2. Humanistic therapies boost self-fulfillment by decreasing self-acceptance.
   3. Humanistic therapies believe the path to growth is found by uncovering hidden determinants.
   4. Humanistic therapies believe that unconscious thoughts are more important than conscious thoughts.
   5. Humanistic therapies focus on promoting growth, not curing illness.
4. No matter how embarrassing her discussions with her therapist might be, Jenny recognizes that he always treats her with respect. This acceptance illustrates the client-centered technique of
   1. free association.
   2. active listening.
   3. resistance.
   4. Freudian interpretation.
   5. unconditional positive regard.

Practice FRQs

1. Explain what psychoanalysis is, and then give an example of how transference and resistance would affect this therapy.

Answer

1 point: Psychoanalysis is a Freudian therapy that seeks to get patients to release repressed feelings to gain self-insight. Page 723

1 point: Transference happens when a patient shifts emotions linked with other relationships to the analyst. This can help the patient gain insight into those relationships. For example, a patient feeling angry at a sibling may transfer that to feeling angry at the therapist. Page 724

1 point: Resistance happens when a patient blocks anxiety-laden thoughts and memories from consciousness. For example, patients may find themselves avoiding discussion of their most traumatic memories. Page 723

2. Explain what client-centered therapy is, then describe the major techniques of the therapy.

(3 points)