eclectic approach
an approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the client's problems, uses techniques from various forms of therapy
psychotherapy
treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth
psychoanalysis
Freud's theory of personality and therapeutic technique that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts. Freud believed the patient's free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences�and the therapist's interpretations o
resistance
in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material
interpretation
the act of interpreting something as expressed in an artistic performance
transference
in psychoanalysis, the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent).
psychodynamic therapy
therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition that views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences, and that seeks to enhance self-insight
insight therapies
a variety of therapies which aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing the client's awareness of underlying motives and defenses
client-centered therapy
A humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting, empathic environment to facilitate clients' growth.
active listening
Empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature of Rogers' client-centered therapy.
unconditional positive regard
a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude which Carl Rogers believed would help clients develop self-awareness and self-acceptance
behavior therapy
therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors
counterconditioning
a behavior therapy procedure that conditions new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviors; based on classical conditioning. Includes exposure therapies and aversive conditioning
exposure therapies
behavioral techniques, such as systematic desensitization, that treat anxieties by exposing people (in imagination or actuality) to the things they fear and avoid
systematic desensitization
a type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli; commonly used to treat phobias
virtual reality exposure therapy
an anxiety treatment that progressively exposes people to simulations of their greatest fears, such as airplane flying, spiders, or public speaking
aversive conditioning
a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol)
token economy
an operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token of some sort for exhibiting a desired behavior and can later exchange the tokens for various privileges or treats.
cognitive therapy
therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions
cognitive-behavioral therapy
a popular integrated therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior)
family therapy
therapy that treats the family as a system. views an individual's unwanted behaviors as influenced by or directed at other family members; attempts to guide family members toward positive relationships and improved communication
regression toward the mean
The tendency for extremes of unusual scores to fall back (regress) toward their average.
meta-analysis
A procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies
evidence-based practice
clinical decision-making that integrates the best available research with clinical expertise and patient characteristics and preferences
biomedical therapy
prescribed medications or medical procedures that act directly on the patient's nervous system
psychopharmacology
the study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior.
antipsychotic drugs
drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other forms of severe thought disorder
tardive dyskinesia
involuntary movements of the facial muscles, tongue, and limbs; a possible neurotoxic side effect of long-term use of antipsychotic drugs that target D2 dopamine receptors
antianxiety drugs
drugs used to control anxiety and agitation
antidepressant drugs
drugs used to treat depression; also increasingly prescribed for anxiety; different types work by altering the availability of various neurotransmitters
electroconvulsive therapy
a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient
repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
the application of repeated pulses of magnetic energy to the brain; used to stimulate or suppress brain activity.
psychosurgery
surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior.
lobotomy
a now-rare psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients. the procedure cut the nerves that connect the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain
resillience
the personal strength that helps most people cope with stress and recover from adversity and even trauma.