Major Forms of Therapy

Its important that we try to destigmatize mental illness and get people the help we now have available. Treatment options for those with emotional, behavioral and mental difficulties include psychotherapy, drug therapy, and a combination of drugs and psychotherapy. Some patients require more supportive psychotherapy, in which the therapist makes suggestions and offers direction, educating the patient about his illness and how it affects his everyday interpersonal interactions, relationships and job. In my research of what is normal and abnormal psychology, I have learned that behavior affects the way society perceives you rather you think your normal or abnormal. That everyone suffers from some type of mental illness whether it’s a problem you are dealing with or how you feel.

Psychiatrists are some of many that try to keep the people in the world sane. “Psychiatry is the science and practice of diagnosing, treating, and preventing mental disorders” (Lomax). Before the eighteenth century, people with mental disorders were considered to be possessed by demons. It was not until Philippe Pinel, a French physician, looked into treating people who had mental disorders. Because of Dr. Pinel, patients who are mentally ill can be treated.

Psychoanalytic psychologists believe that typical causes of mental disorders root from unresolved conflicts and trauma. Psychoanalytic treatment is based on the idea that people are motivated by unrecognized wishes and desires. Treatment involves bringing the repressed conflict to consciousness so that the patient can learn to deal with it. There are many different ways in which the psychologist can bring the patient's conflict to consciousness including, rorschach ink blots, Freudian slip, and free

Electroshock therapy or ECT involves exposing the brain to carefully controlled pulses of electric current that induce brief seizures. The reason why electroshock therapy relieves depression is still unknown. Researchers believe that Electroshock therapy alters monoamine function, as do the anti-depressant drugs. The process of inducing seizures through electroshock is not as complicated or as dangerous as people think. The patient is placed in a specially equipped room, where a clinical team first issues intravenous general anesthetic.

Therapy is part of the healing and treating process that people suffering from any type problems may need. To attain total recovery, some individuals require certain types of therapy. One of the most common therapies is through group therapy, also called group psychotherapy. Group therapy or counseling has become a popular method working with offenders. One of the most fundamental values to group therapy is that an individual is affected by the system in which he or she functions (Brabender, Smoler, and Fallon, 2004).

This procedure is commonly used to treat phobias. In aversive conditioning, an unpleasant state is associated with an unwanted behavior. 4. Behavior therapists apply operant conditioning principles by reinforcing desired behaviors while withholding reinforcement for undesired behaviors. In institutional settings, therapists may create a token economy in which a patient receives a token for exhibiting a desired behavior.

Additionally, the authors claim the discipline of psychology, clinicians practicing psychotherapy, and clients in therapy would all benefit from integration. However, the need for such a formal presentation of this argument remains in question. In proposing the integration of psychotherapy into psychology, the authors propose that “psychotherapy is the practice of psychology” (Sechrest & Smith, 2012, p. 170). This is a logical ascertain. Psychotherapy is an attempt to improve the psychic condition of a client experiencing some form of mental distress.

Presentation and Discussion Psychotherapy is an important form of treatment for many kinds of psychological problems. In most types of psychotherapy, as well as counseling, a person discusses his or her problems one-on-one with a therapist. The therapist tries to understand the person's problems and to help the individual change distressing thoughts, feelings, or behaviors. People often seek psychotherapy when they have tried other approaches, like counseling, to solving a personal problem. For example, people who are depressed, anxious, or have drug or alcohol problems may find that talking to friends or family members is not enough to resolve their problems.

To help therapy to run smoothly, or for the person to want to really change the psychiatrist and patient should work together to set realistic goals, give rewards or set consequences for certain behaviors. Using operant conditioning could also be effective in teaching a person suffering this disorder good versus bad behaviors. Operant conditioning would go along with the rewards and consequences idea. Without telling the patient, a psychiatrist could put the patient in a certain monitored situation. This situation would need to cause the patient to act out, show the symptoms of the personality disorder, like their narcissistic symptoms.

In this paper I will be comparing and contrasting the Psychoanalytic formulations of addiction and the Cognitive models of addiction. According to Dennis L. Thombs, “people tend to get psychoanalysis and psychotherapy mixed up. Psychotherapy is a more general term describing professional services aimed at helping individuals or groups overcome emotional, behavioral or relationship problem” (119). According to Thombs and Osborn, “Cognitive refers to the covert mental process that are described by a number of diverse terms, including thinking, self-talk, internal dialogue, expectations , beliefs, schemas and so much more” (160). I believe these two factors play a major part in an individual’s life that has an addiction.