AP Psychology AMSCO Guided Notes
5.5: Treatment of Psychological Disorders
AP Psychology Guided Notes
AMSCO 5.5 - Treatment of Psychological Disorders
Essential Questions
- How are psychological disorders treated?
I. Effectiveness of Psychological Therapies
1. What did Hans Eysenck's research conclude about psychotherapy effectiveness, and how did this influence the field?
2. What are the three common factors that meta-analysis shows are present in effective psychotherapy?
3. Which therapeutic approaches are most effective for specific disorders like ADHD, anxiety, and depression?
II. Deinstitutionalization and Decentralization of Mental Health Care
1. What is deinstitutionalization and what forces propelled this major shift in mental health treatment?
2. How did the 1963 Community Mental Health Act change the approach to treating people with mental illness?
III. Community-Based Treatment
1. What are the two movements that have driven community-based mental health care since the 1990s?
A. Community Support Programs
1. What is the role of a case manager in community support programs?
2. What problems emerged by the 1980s that challenged the effectiveness of community support programs?
B. Assertive Community Treatment
1. How does assertive community treatment differ from standard community support programs?
C. Assisted Outpatient Treatment
1. What is assisted outpatient treatment and what does a court-ordered treatment plan typically include?
D. Assessing Community Mental Health
1. What mixed results have community-based treatment programs shown, and what populations have been most affected?
2. How has deinstitutionalization affected rates of homelessness and incarceration among people with severe mental illness?
3. What is comorbidity and how does it complicate treatment for people with severe mental illness?
IV. Ethical Principles in the Treatment of Psychological Disorders
1. What are the five general ethical principles that guide psychologists' professional conduct?
2. What are the key ethical requirements regarding informed consent and confidentiality in psychological treatment?
V. Techniques in Psychological Therapies
1. How do the biomedical approach and psychological approach differ in their treatment of mental illness?
A. Psychodynamic Therapies
1. What was Freud's central goal in psychoanalysis and what theoretical assumption did it rest upon?
2. What are free association and dream analysis, and how did Freud use them to reveal unconscious conflicts?
3. What is transference and why is it important in psychoanalytic therapy?
1. Psychodynamic Therapies
1. How do modern psychodynamic therapies differ from traditional Freudian psychoanalysis?
2. What is interpersonal psychotherapy and what mental health issue does it primarily address?
3. What is object relations therapy and how does it approach healing?
2. Assessing Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Therapies
1. Why is traditional Freudian psychoanalysis not widely used today?
2. How does the effectiveness of interpersonal psychotherapy compare to cognitive-behavioral therapy?
B. Humanistic Therapies
1. What is the central goal of humanistic therapy and how does it differ from psychodynamic therapy?
1. Person-Centered or Rogerian Therapy
1. What did Carl Rogers believe caused psychological problems and how does person-centered therapy address this?
2. What are the four principles central to Rogerian person-centered therapy?
3. What is active listening and how does it help clients gain insight in person-centered therapy?
2. Assessing Humanistic Therapy
1. What is the most significant challenge when assessing the effectiveness of humanistic therapies?
C. Applied Behavioral Therapies
1. What is the fundamental assumption of behavioral therapy about human behavior?
2. How do action therapies differ from insight therapies in their approach to resolving psychological problems?
1. Exposure Therapies
1. What is systematic desensitization and what are its three main steps?
2. How does virtual reality graded exposure improve upon traditional systematic desensitization?
2. Aversion Therapy
1. How does aversion therapy work and what is an example of its application?
3. Operant Conditioning
1. How is behavior modification based on operant conditioning used in therapeutic settings?
2. What are token economy systems and why should individuals transition to variable-ratio reinforcement?
4. Modeling
1. How can modeling be used as a behavioral therapy technique to help clients overcome fears?
5. Biofeedback
1. What is biofeedback and how does it help individuals gain control over physiological processes?
6. Assessing Behavioral Therapy
1. For which disorders is behavioral therapy most effective and for which is it ineffective?
2. What cautions should be taken when using aversion therapy or flooding?
D. Cognitive Therapies
1. What did Aaron Beck conclude about the causes of depression and how did this lead to cognitive therapy?
2. What is Beck's cognitive triad and how do the three types of negative thinking reinforce each other?
3. What is cognitive restructuring and what are the three steps involved in this therapeutic process?
1. Assessing Cognitive Therapy
1. How effective is cognitive therapy and for which disorders has it shown strong results?
E. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies
1. What is the guiding principle of cognitive-behavioral therapy and how does it combine cognitive and behavioral approaches?
1. Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy
1. What did Albert Ellis believe was the reason behind most psychological problems?
2. What is Ellis's ABC technique and how does it explain the relationship between thoughts and emotions?
2. Dialectical Behavior Therapy
1. What is dialectical behavior therapy and what four types of skills does it focus on developing?
2. For which disorders has DBT been adapted and found to be effective?
3. Assessing Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
1. What evidence supports the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy and what are its key advantages?
2. For which clients might CBT be less suitable or insufficient?
VI. Modes of Therapy
1. What is the difference between modes of therapy and psychotherapeutic approaches?
A. Group Therapy
1. What are the benefits of group therapy compared to individual therapy?
2. How can group dynamics help address healthier coping skills in group therapy?
VII. Hypnosis
1. What is true hypnosis and how does it differ from common misconceptions about hypnosis?
2. What did research show about hypnosis's effectiveness for memory recovery and age regression?
3. For what therapeutic purposes is hypnosis most effective?
VIII. Biologically Derived Interventions
1. What is the biomedical approach to treating psychological disorders and how does it differ from psychological approaches?
A. Psychoactive Medications or Pharmacotherapy
1. What are the five classes of psychoactive medications and what disorders does each treat?
2. How do antianxiety drugs work and what are benzodiazepines?
3. How do antidepressants affect neurotransmitters and what disorders can they treat?
4. Why are stimulants effective for treating ADD/ADHD?
1. Assessing Psychoactive Medications
1. What is tardive dyskinesia and what causes it?
2. Why is combining psychoactive medication with psychotherapy more effective than medication alone?
B. Electroconvulsive Therapy
1. What is electroconvulsive therapy and when is it used?
2. What are the side effects of ECT and how do modern ECT therapies differ from earlier versions?
C. Psychosurgery
1. What is psychosurgery and what was the prefrontal lobotomy?
2. How does bilateral anterior cingulotomy represent a more selective approach to psychosurgery?
D. Deep Brain Stimulation and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
1. How do deep brain stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation work to treat depression?
E. Assessing the Biomedical Approach
1. What was the significance of discovering that drugs could reduce symptoms of severe psychological disorders?
2. What are the important caveats regarding psychoactive medications and their limitations?
3. Why is combining psychopharmacological drugs with psychotherapy more effective than either alone?
Key Terms
active listening
antianxiety drug
antidepressant
antipsychotic medication
applied behavioral therapy
aversion therapy
biofeedback
cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
cognitive restructuring
cognitive therapy
cultural humility
deinstitutionalization
dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
dream interpretation
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
evidence-based intervention
exposure therapy
group therapy
humanistic therapy
hypnosis
lithium
lobotomy
meta-analysis
mood stabilizer
nonmaleficence
operant conditioning
person-centered therapy
psychoactive medication
psychoanalysis
psychodynamic therapy
psychosurgery
psychotherapy
rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)
tardive dyskinesia (TD)
therapeutic alliance
token economy
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
unconditional positive regard