8.10 Evaluating Strengths, Weaknesses, and Empirical Support for Treatments of Disorders
2 min read•december 27, 2022
Emily Pedrazzi
Dalia Savy
Emily Pedrazzi
Dalia Savy
Other Types of Therapy
Individual Therapy
can widely vary depending on the approach, but is always a one-on-one client-centered setting with various areas that can be improved. The main downside is that any interpersonal techniques may be hard to practice, because no one else is present.
Group Therapy
is a support-centric type of therapy that helps patients feel less isolated in their problems. is great for developing interpersonal and other social skills while costing less and providing more progress. may be hard for individuals who prefer to keep their issues out of the public eye.
Family Therapy
attempts to heal relationships and open up communication between family members in order to resolve conflicts.
Rational-Emotive Therapy
As stated in the name, serves to rationalize, contextualize, and identify negative feelings and associated patterns. Thoughts are placed in different contexts and reframed in attempts to correct or replace certain patterns. The major downside to this type of therapy is that deeply rooted issues take time to undo.
Benefits of Psychotherapy
Some people get stressed when it comes to recovering through therapy, but it ultimately has lots of benefits. Here are three:
🌠 Hope— provides hope for those struggling and shows them that they aren't alone (other people are struggling with the same issue as well).
😃 New attitude—Therapy often introduces a new lifestyle and way of life to those that viewed life through a pessimistic pov.
❤️ New relationships—Many times a therapist and their client develops a close relationship. This is a term itself ().
Image Courtesy of Clipart Library.
Comparing Therapy Techniques
| Therapy | Problem | Therapy Aim | Therapy Technique |
| Psychodynamic | from childhood experiences. | Reduce anxiety through self-insight | Interpret patients' memories and feelings |
| Client-centered (humanistic) | Barriers to and . | Enable , genuineness, and empathy. | Listen actively and reflect clients' feelings. |
| Behavior | Relearn ; extinguish problem ones. | Use or . | |
| Cognitive | Promotes . | Train people to dispute negative thoughts and attributions. | |
| Cognitive-behavioral | Promote healthier thinking and | Train people to counter self-harmful thoughts and to act out their new ways of thinking. | |
| Group and Family | Heal relationships | Develop an , explore roles, and improve communication. |
Table Courtesy of GwynStudyGuide. All credit to Myers' AP Psychology
🎥Watch: AP Psychology—Therapy
Key Terms to Review (27)
Adaptive Behaviors
: Adaptive behaviors are actions that enable a person to effectively carry out basic activities necessary for self-care and social interaction.Behavioral Therapy
: Behavioral therapy is a type of psychotherapy that aims at changing maladaptive behaviors through learning new responses or skills.Classical Conditioning
: Classical conditioning is a learning process in which an association is made between a previously neutral stimulus and a stimulus that naturally evokes a response.Client-centered Therapy
: Client-centered therapy is a non-directive form of talk therapy developed by Carl Rogers that emphasizes understanding the client's experience from their perspective.Cognitive Therapy
: Cognitive therapy is a type of psychotherapy that helps individuals identify and change thought patterns that lead to harmful behaviors or feelings.Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
: CBT is a form of psychological treatment that combines cognitive therapy (changing how you think) with behavior therapy (changing what you do).Dysfunctional Behaviors
: Dysfunctional behaviors are actions that are harmful or disruptive to oneself or others. They often stem from psychological issues or disorders.Exploration of Roles
: The process through which individuals identify and understand their responsibilities within specific contexts such as in families or workplaces.Family Therapy
: Family therapy is a type of psychological counseling (psychotherapy) that can help family members improve communication and resolve conflicts within the family unit.Genuineness and Empathy
: Genuineness refers to the authenticity or sincerity of a person's behavior or feelings. Empathy, on the other hand, is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.Group Therapy
: Group therapy is a form of psychotherapy where one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group. It can be used to help people dealing with similar issues feel less alone in their struggles.Growth via Unconditional Positive Regard
: Growth via Unconditional Positive Regard involves developing as a person through receiving non-judgmental love and acceptance from others regardless of our actions or behaviors.Healthier Thinking and Self-talk
: This refers to the practice of consciously directing one's thoughts in a positive, constructive direction and using internal dialogue to reinforce these thoughts. It is often used as a technique in cognitive behavioral therapy.Improvement in Communication
: The enhancement in exchanging information effectively either verbally or non-verbally between two or more people.Individual Therapy
: Individual therapy is a form of psychotherapy where a therapist works one-on-one with a client to explore their feelings, beliefs, or behaviors, work through challenging memories, identify aspects of their lives that they would like to change and set personal goals.Negative, Self-defeating Thinking
: This refers to habitual patterns of negative thoughts about oneself and the world that can lead to diminished performance and mental health issues.Operant Conditioning
: Operant conditioning is a type of learning where behavior is controlled by consequences. Positive reinforcements or punishments are used to either increase or decrease the likelihood of a behavior happening again.Psychodynamic Therapy
: Psychodynamic therapy is a form of depth psychology that focuses on the unconscious mind and past experiences to understand current behaviors.Psychotherapy
: Psychotherapy is a general term for treating mental health problems by talking with a psychiatrist, psychologist or other mental health provider. It's also known as talk therapy, counseling, psychosocial therapy or simply therapy.Rational-Emotive Therapy
: Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET) is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy developed by psychologist Albert Ellis, designed to identify irrational beliefs and thoughts, challenge them, and replace them with more rational ones.Self-acceptance
: Self-acceptance refers to an individual's satisfaction or happiness with oneself, and their acceptance of all aspects of their personality including strengths and weaknesses.Self-harmful Thoughts and Behaviors
: These are thoughts or actions where an individual intentionally causes harm to themselves, often as a way to cope with emotional pain or distress.Self-understanding
: Self-understanding refers to the individual's comprehensive knowledge of their own personality traits, behaviors, and emotions.Stressful Relationships
: These are relationships that consistently produce significant stress, anxiety, or discomfort. They can be with family members, friends, romantic partners, or coworkers.Therapeutic Alliance
: Therapeutic alliance refers to the collaborative relationship between a therapist and their client, where both work together to achieve the client's therapeutic goals.Unconscious Conflicts
: Unconscious conflicts refer to unresolved issues, often from childhood, which operate outside conscious awareness but influence behavior and emotions.Understanding of Family
: This refers to the comprehension and appreciation of the dynamics, roles, relationships, and functions within a family unit. It involves recognizing how each member contributes to the overall functioning of the family.8.10 Evaluating Strengths, Weaknesses, and Empirical Support for Treatments of Disorders
2 min read•december 27, 2022
Emily Pedrazzi
Dalia Savy
Emily Pedrazzi
Dalia Savy
Other Types of Therapy
Individual Therapy
can widely vary depending on the approach, but is always a one-on-one client-centered setting with various areas that can be improved. The main downside is that any interpersonal techniques may be hard to practice, because no one else is present.
Group Therapy
is a support-centric type of therapy that helps patients feel less isolated in their problems. is great for developing interpersonal and other social skills while costing less and providing more progress. may be hard for individuals who prefer to keep their issues out of the public eye.
Family Therapy
attempts to heal relationships and open up communication between family members in order to resolve conflicts.
Rational-Emotive Therapy
As stated in the name, serves to rationalize, contextualize, and identify negative feelings and associated patterns. Thoughts are placed in different contexts and reframed in attempts to correct or replace certain patterns. The major downside to this type of therapy is that deeply rooted issues take time to undo.
Benefits of Psychotherapy
Some people get stressed when it comes to recovering through therapy, but it ultimately has lots of benefits. Here are three:
🌠 Hope— provides hope for those struggling and shows them that they aren't alone (other people are struggling with the same issue as well).
😃 New attitude—Therapy often introduces a new lifestyle and way of life to those that viewed life through a pessimistic pov.
❤️ New relationships—Many times a therapist and their client develops a close relationship. This is a term itself ().
Image Courtesy of Clipart Library.
Comparing Therapy Techniques
| Therapy | Problem | Therapy Aim | Therapy Technique |
| Psychodynamic | from childhood experiences. | Reduce anxiety through self-insight | Interpret patients' memories and feelings |
| Client-centered (humanistic) | Barriers to and . | Enable , genuineness, and empathy. | Listen actively and reflect clients' feelings. |
| Behavior | Relearn ; extinguish problem ones. | Use or . | |
| Cognitive | Promotes . | Train people to dispute negative thoughts and attributions. | |
| Cognitive-behavioral | Promote healthier thinking and | Train people to counter self-harmful thoughts and to act out their new ways of thinking. | |
| Group and Family | Heal relationships | Develop an , explore roles, and improve communication. |
Table Courtesy of GwynStudyGuide. All credit to Myers' AP Psychology
🎥Watch: AP Psychology—Therapy
Key Terms to Review (27)
Adaptive Behaviors
: Adaptive behaviors are actions that enable a person to effectively carry out basic activities necessary for self-care and social interaction.Behavioral Therapy
: Behavioral therapy is a type of psychotherapy that aims at changing maladaptive behaviors through learning new responses or skills.Classical Conditioning
: Classical conditioning is a learning process in which an association is made between a previously neutral stimulus and a stimulus that naturally evokes a response.Client-centered Therapy
: Client-centered therapy is a non-directive form of talk therapy developed by Carl Rogers that emphasizes understanding the client's experience from their perspective.Cognitive Therapy
: Cognitive therapy is a type of psychotherapy that helps individuals identify and change thought patterns that lead to harmful behaviors or feelings.Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
: CBT is a form of psychological treatment that combines cognitive therapy (changing how you think) with behavior therapy (changing what you do).Dysfunctional Behaviors
: Dysfunctional behaviors are actions that are harmful or disruptive to oneself or others. They often stem from psychological issues or disorders.Exploration of Roles
: The process through which individuals identify and understand their responsibilities within specific contexts such as in families or workplaces.Family Therapy
: Family therapy is a type of psychological counseling (psychotherapy) that can help family members improve communication and resolve conflicts within the family unit.Genuineness and Empathy
: Genuineness refers to the authenticity or sincerity of a person's behavior or feelings. Empathy, on the other hand, is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.Group Therapy
: Group therapy is a form of psychotherapy where one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group. It can be used to help people dealing with similar issues feel less alone in their struggles.Growth via Unconditional Positive Regard
: Growth via Unconditional Positive Regard involves developing as a person through receiving non-judgmental love and acceptance from others regardless of our actions or behaviors.Healthier Thinking and Self-talk
: This refers to the practice of consciously directing one's thoughts in a positive, constructive direction and using internal dialogue to reinforce these thoughts. It is often used as a technique in cognitive behavioral therapy.Improvement in Communication
: The enhancement in exchanging information effectively either verbally or non-verbally between two or more people.Individual Therapy
: Individual therapy is a form of psychotherapy where a therapist works one-on-one with a client to explore their feelings, beliefs, or behaviors, work through challenging memories, identify aspects of their lives that they would like to change and set personal goals.Negative, Self-defeating Thinking
: This refers to habitual patterns of negative thoughts about oneself and the world that can lead to diminished performance and mental health issues.Operant Conditioning
: Operant conditioning is a type of learning where behavior is controlled by consequences. Positive reinforcements or punishments are used to either increase or decrease the likelihood of a behavior happening again.Psychodynamic Therapy
: Psychodynamic therapy is a form of depth psychology that focuses on the unconscious mind and past experiences to understand current behaviors.Psychotherapy
: Psychotherapy is a general term for treating mental health problems by talking with a psychiatrist, psychologist or other mental health provider. It's also known as talk therapy, counseling, psychosocial therapy or simply therapy.Rational-Emotive Therapy
: Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET) is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy developed by psychologist Albert Ellis, designed to identify irrational beliefs and thoughts, challenge them, and replace them with more rational ones.Self-acceptance
: Self-acceptance refers to an individual's satisfaction or happiness with oneself, and their acceptance of all aspects of their personality including strengths and weaknesses.Self-harmful Thoughts and Behaviors
: These are thoughts or actions where an individual intentionally causes harm to themselves, often as a way to cope with emotional pain or distress.Self-understanding
: Self-understanding refers to the individual's comprehensive knowledge of their own personality traits, behaviors, and emotions.Stressful Relationships
: These are relationships that consistently produce significant stress, anxiety, or discomfort. They can be with family members, friends, romantic partners, or coworkers.Therapeutic Alliance
: Therapeutic alliance refers to the collaborative relationship between a therapist and their client, where both work together to achieve the client's therapeutic goals.Unconscious Conflicts
: Unconscious conflicts refer to unresolved issues, often from childhood, which operate outside conscious awareness but influence behavior and emotions.Understanding of Family
: This refers to the comprehension and appreciation of the dynamics, roles, relationships, and functions within a family unit. It involves recognizing how each member contributes to the overall functioning of the family.
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