CBSE Class 12 Psychology Therapeutic Approaches Assignment

Question. What are the different types of psychotherapy? On what basis are they classified?
Answer. Though all psychotherapies aim at removing human distress and fostering effective behaviour, they differ greatly in concepts, methods, and techniques. Psychotherapies may be classified into three broad groups, viz. the psychodynamic, behaviour, and existential psychotherapies. In terms of the chronological order, psychodynamic therapy emerged first followed by behaviour therapy while the existential therapies which are also called the third force, emerged last. The classification of psychotherapies is based on the following parameters:

(i) What is the cause, which has led to the problem?
Psychodynamic therapy is of the view that intrapsychic conflicts, i.e. the conflicts that are present within the psyche of the person, are the source of psychological problems. According to behaviour therapies, psychological problems arise due to faulty learning of behaviours and cognitions. The existential therapies postulate that the questions about the meaning of one’s life and existence are the cause of psychological problems.

(ii) How did the cause come into existence?
In the psychodynamic therapy, unfulfilled desires of childhood and unresolved childhood fears lead to intrapsychic conflicts. The behaviour therapy postulates that faulty conditioning patterns, faulty learning, and faulty thinking and beliefs lead to maladaptive behaviours that, in turn, lead to psychological problems. The existential therapy places importance on the present. It is the current feelings of loneliness, alienation, sense of futility of one’s existence, etc., which cause psychological problems.

(iii) What is the chief method of treatment?
Psychodynamic therapy uses the methods of free association and reporting of dreams to elicit the thoughts and feelings of the client. This material is interpreted to the client to help her/him to confront and resolve the conflicts and thus overcome problems. Behaviour therapy identifies the faulty conditioning patterns and sets up alternate behavioural contingencies to improve behaviour. The cognitive methods employed in this type of therapy challenge the faulty thinking patterns of the client to help her/ him overcome psychological distress. The existential therapy provides a therapeutic environment which is positive, accepting, and nonjudgmental. The client is able to talk about the problems and the therapist acts as a facilitator. The client arrives at the solutions through a process of personal growth.

(iv) What is the nature of the therapeutic relationship between the client and the therapist?
Psychodynamic therapy assumes that the therapist understands the client’s intrapsychic conflicts better than the client and hence it is the therapist who interprets the thoughts and feelings of the client to her/him so that s/he gains an understanding of the same. The behaviour therapy assumes that the therapist is able to discern the faulty behaviour and thought patterns of the client. It further assumes that the therapist is capable of finding out the correct behaviour and thought patterns, which would be adaptive for the client. Both the psychodynamic and the behaviour therapies assume that the therapist is capable of arriving at solutions to the client’s problems. In contrast to these therapies, the existential therapies emphasise that the therapist merely provides a warm, empathic relationship in which the client feels secure to explore the nature and causes of her/his problems by herself/himself.

(v) What is the chief benefit to the client?
Psychodynamic therapy values emotional insight as the important benefit that the client derives from the treatment. Emotional insight is present when the client understands her/his conflicts intellectually; is able to accept the same emotionally; and is able to change her/his emotions towards the conflicts. The client’s symptoms and distresses reduce as a consequence of this emotional insight. The behaviour therapy considers changing faulty behaviour and thought patterns to adaptive ones as the chief benefit of the treatment. Instituting adaptive or healthy behaviour and thought patterns ensures reduction of distress and removal of symptoms. The humanistic therapy values personal growth as the chief benefit. Personal growth is the process of gaining increasing understanding of oneself, and one’s aspirations, emotions and motives.

(vi) What is the duration of treatment?
The duration of classical psychoanalysis may continue for several years. However, several recent versions of psychodynamic therapies are completed in 10–15 sessions. Behaviour and cognitive behaviour therapies as well as existential therapies are shorter and are completed in a few months. Thus, different types of psychotherapies differ on multiple parameters. However, they all share the common method of providing treatment for psychological distress through psychological meAnswer. The therapist, the therapeutic relationship, and the process of therapy become the agents of change in the client leading to the alleviation of psychological distress. The process of psychotherapy begins by formulating the client’s problem.

Question. A therapist asks the client to reveal all her/his thoughts including early childhood experiences. Describe the technique and type of therapy being used.
Answer. Psychodynamic therapy uses free association and dream interpretation as important methods for eliciting the psychological conflicts. A therapeutic relationship is established and the client feels comfortable, the therapist makes him/her lie down on the couch, close his/her eyes and asks him/her to speak whatever comes to mind without censoring it in anyway. The client is encouraged to freely associate one thought with another, and this method is called the method of free association.
A relaxed and trusting atmosphere is created and as the therapist does not interrupt the free flow of ideas, desires and the conflicts of the unconscious, which had been suppressed by the ego, emerge into the conscious mind. Along with this technique, the client is asked to write down his/her dreams upon waking up. According to psychoanalysts, dreams are symbols of unfulfilled desires and are the royal road to the unconscious.As the unconscious forces are brought into the conscious field through free association and dream interpretation, the client starts identifying with the therapist with the authority figures of the past, usually childhood. The therapist is seen as a punitive father or as a negligent mother. The therapist maintains a non-judgmental and permissive attitude and allows the client to continue with this process of emotional identification. This is the process of transference. The client expresses his/her frustrations, anger, fear and depression that had been suppressed during the early childhood years. The therapist acts as the substitute for an authority figure and this stage is called transference neurosis. When the client idolizes or falls in love with the therapist and seeks the therapist’s approval, positive transference takes place while when the client has feelings of hostility, anger and resentment towards the therapist negative transference occurs.

The process of transference is met with resistance. Since the process of transference exposes the unconscious wishes and conflicts, thereby increasing the distress levels, the client resists transference. Due to resistance, the client opposes the progress of therapy in order to protect himself/herself from the recall of painful unconscious memories. Resistance can be conscious or unconscious. Conscious resistance is present when the client deliberately hides some information. Unconscious resistance is present when the client becomes silent during the therapy session, recalls trivial details without recalling the emotional ones, misses appointments and comes late for therapy sessions. Change is effected by interpretation through confrontation and clarification. In confrontation, the therapist points out to the client an aspect of his/her psyche that must be faced by the client. Clarification is the process by which the therapist brings a vague or confusing event into sharp focus. The therapist uses the unconscious material that has been uncovered in the process of free association, dream interpretation, transference and resistance to make the client aware of the psychic contents and conflicts which have led to the occurrence of symptoms. The repeated process of using confrontation, clarification and interpretation is known as working through.

The outcome of working through is insight. During insight, the unconscious memories are repeatedly integrated into conscious awareness. Therapy is complete when the client starts to understand himself/herself better at intellectual and emotional level and gains insight into his/her conflicts and problems.
Psychoanalysis lasts for several years, with one hour session for 4-5 days per week. It takes place in 3 stages:

Stage one is the initial phase when the patient becomes familiar with the routines, establishes a therapeutic relationship with the analyst, and gets some relief with the process of recollecting the superficial materials from the consciousness about the past and present troublesome events.
Stage two is the middle phase, which is characterized by transference, resistance on the part of the patient, and confrontation and clarification, i.e. working through on the therapist’s part. All these processes finally lead to insight.
The third phase is the termination phase wherein the relationship with the analyst is dissolved and the patient prepares to leave the therapy.

Question. Explain with the help of an example how cognitive distortions take place.
Answer. Aaron Beck states that childhood experiences provided by family and society develop core schemas or systems. For example, a client, who was neglected by the parents as a child, develops the core schema ‘I am not wanted’. During the course of life, a critical incident occurs in his/her life. S/he is publicly ridiculed by the teacher in school. The critical incident triggers the core schema of ‘I am not wanted’ leading to the development of negative automatic thoughts. These negative thoughts lead to cognitive distortions such as ‘I am ugly’, ‘I am stupid’, ‘Nobody loves me’ which are called dysfunctional cognitive structures. Repeated occurrence of these thoughts leads to development of feelings of anxiety and depression. The therapist uses gentle, non-threatening questioning by which the client thinks in the direction opposite to negative automatic thoughts and gains insight of his dysfunctional schemas and achieves cognitive restructuring which reduces anxiety and depression.

Question. Which therapy encourages the client to seek personal growth and actualise their potential? Write about the therapies which are based on this principle.
Answer. The principles underlying humanistic existential psychotherapy are:
- Psychological distress arises from feelings of loneliness, isolation and inability to find meaning and genuine fulfillment in life.
- Human beings are motivated by the desire for personal growth and self-actualisation, and an innate need to grow emotionally. When society and family prevent these needs from being expressed, human beings experience psychological distress. Frustration of self actualisation also causes distress.
- The humanistic-existential therapies encourage personal growth and actualise the potential. Self actualisation requires free emotional expression. The family and society prevent emotional expression which leads to destructive behaviour and negative emotions by putting a check on the process of emotional expression. The therapist is merely facilitator and guide. It is the client who is responsible for the success of the therapy by the process of self-growth through which healing takes place.
The therapy creates a permissive, non-judgmental and accepting atmosphere in which the client’s emotions can be freely expressed and the complexity, balance and integration could be achieved. The fundamental assumption is that the client has the freedom and responsibility to control his/her own behaviour and the chief aim of the therapy is to expand the client’s awareness.

Question. What are the factors that contribute to healing in psychotherapy? Enumerate some of the alternative therapies.
Answer. Psychotherapy is a treatment of psychological distress. There are several processes which contribute to the healing process:
(i) Relaxation procedures and cognitive restructuring contribute to the healing.
(ii) The therapeutic alliance has healing properties because of the warmth and empathy provided by the therapist.
(iii) Healing is provided by unburdening the client of emotional problems by the process of catharsis.
(iv) There are several non-specific factors associated with psychotherapy. Non-specific factors attributable to the client/patient are motivation for change, expectation or improvement due to treatment. Non-specific factors attributable to the therapist are positive nature, absence of unresolved emotional conflicts, presence of good mental health.

CBSE Class 12 Psychology Chapter 5  Psychotherapeutics Objective Type Questions 

Question. Psychotherapies aim at changing maladaptive behaviour and helping the client to adapt better to his environment. (True/False)
Answer. True

Question. Conscious resistance is present when client deliberately hides some information. (True/False)
Answer. True

Question. The psychological model that explains abnormal behaviour in the light of learning maladaptive ways is:
(a) Cognitive Model
(b) Behavioural Model
(c) Psychodynamic Model
(d) Social Model
Answer. B

Question. If a child gives trouble in eating dinner, an antecedent operation would be to praise the child, every time he finishes dinner. (True/False)
Answer. False

Question. Unwanted behaviour can be reduced and wanted behaviour can be increased simultaneously through:
(a) positive reinforcement
(b) differential reinforcement
(c) negative reinforcement
(d) aversive conditioning
Answer. B

Question. _____________ reinforcement is following undesirable response with an outcome that is painful or not liked.
Answer. Negative

Question. The technique used for treating phobias or irrational fears is _____________.
Answer. Systematic desensitization

Question. ______________ is a procedure in which relaxation and pleasant feelings are learned as conditioned responses to stimuli that once acted as fear procedure
(a) sublimation
(b) rationalization
(c) systematic desensitization
(d) none of the above
Answer. C

Question. Learning by observing others and rewarding small changes is a process of_______________ learning.
Answer. Vicarious

Question. ______________ combines cognitive therapy with behavioural techniques.
Answer. CBT

Question. RET (Rational Emotive Therapy) has been proposed by
(a) Abraham Maslow
(b) Albert Ellis
(c) Aaron Beck
(d) Carl Rogers
Answer. B

Question. Empathy means understanding things from other person’s perspective.
Answer. True

Question. __________ is the ability to understand the feelings of the other person as if it were your own.
Answer. Empathy

Question. Client-centred therapy focuses on creating unconditional positive regard in the client. (True/False) 
Answer. True

CBSE Class 12 Psychology Chapter 5  Psychotherapeutics Very Short Answer Questions 

Question. What is meant by therapeutic contract?
OR
Discuss relationship between the client and the therapist.
OR
Discuss the importance of therapeutic relationship in psychotherapy.
Answer. The therapeutic relationship is contractual in nature in which two willing individuals, the client and the therapist, enter into partnership which aims at helping the client overcome his/her problems.
It is a helping relationship that involves someone seeking help and someone trained to give help, in a setting that permits help to be given and received.

Question. What is unconditional positive regard?
Answer. Unconditional positive regard is positive warmth, by being accepting, empathic and genuine to the client. The therapist shows non-judgmental attitude so that the client feels secure and trusts the therapist. The therapist conveys by his or her words and behaviours that she/he is not judging the client and will continue to show the same positive feelings towards the client even if the client is rude or confides all the ‘wrong’ things that she/he may have done or thought about.

Question. Explain the term ‘empathy’. 
Answer. Empathy is to understand the plight of another person, and feel like the other person.It means understanding things from the other person’s perspective, i.e. putting oneself in the other person’s shoes.

Question. How is empathy different from sympathy?
Answer. Empathy is to understand the plight of another person, and feel like the other person.It means understanding things from the other person’s perspective, i.e., putting oneself in the other person’s shoes.
In sympathy one has compassion and pity towards the suffering of another but is not able to feel like the other person.

Question. Explain ‘vicarious learning’. 
Answer. Vicarious learning is learning by observing others. It is the process of rewarding small changes in the behaviour, in which the client gradually learns to acquire the behaviour of the model.

Question. What is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)?
Answer. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is a short and efficacious treatment for a wide range of psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression, panic attacks and borderline personality. It combines cognitive therapy with behavioural techniques.

Question. State two psychological disorders in which cognitive behaviour therapy is used for treatment. 
Answer. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is a short and efficacious treatment for a wide range of psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression, panic attacks and borderline personality.

Question. What is existential anxiety? 
Answer. Frankl calls the process of finding meaning even in life-threatening circumstances as the process of meaning making. The basis of meaning making is a person’s quest for finding the spiritual truth of one’s existence. He emphasized the role of spiritual anxieties in leading to meaninglessness and hence it may be called an existential anxiety, i.e. neurotic anxiety of spiritual origin.

Question. What is meant by ‘self-actualisation’?
Answer. Maslow gave a detailed account of psychologically healthy people in reference to attainment of self-actualisation. Self-actualisation is a state in which people have reached their fullest potential and develop a complex, balanced and integrated personality.

CBSE Class 12 Psychology Chapter 5  Psychotherapeutics Short Answer Questions-I 

Question. What do you mean by transference neurosis? Describe its types.
Answer. The client expresses his/her frustrations, anger, fear and depression that had been suppressed during the early childhood years. The therapist acts as the substitute for an authority figure and this stage is called transference neurosis. It is of two types:
(i) Positive transference: When the client idolizes or falls in love with the therapist and seeks the therapist’s approval, positive transference takes place.
(ii) Negative transference: When the client has feelings of hostility, anger and resentment towards the therapist negative transference occurs.

Question. Discuss cognitive therapy given by Aaron Beck.
OR
How is Rational Emotive Therapy (RET) used in treating psychological disorders?
OR
Explain with examples that how cognitive distortions take place.  
Answer. Aaron Beck states that childhood experiences provided by family and society develop core schemas or systems. For example, a client, who was neglected by the parents as a child, develops the core schema ‘I am not wanted’. During the course of life, a critical incident occurs in his/her life. S/he is publicly ridiculed by the teacher in school. The critical incident triggers the core schema of ‘I am not wanted’ leading to the development of negative automatic thoughts. These negative thoughts lead to cognitive distortions such as ‘I am ugly’, ‘I am stupid’, ‘Nobody loves me’ which are called dysfunctional cognitive structures. Repeated occurrence of these thoughts leads to development of feelings of anxiety and depression. The therapist uses gentle, non-threatening questioning by which the client thinks in the direction opposite to negative automatic thoughts and gains insight of his dysfunctional schemas and achieves cognitive restructuring which reduces anxiety and depression.

Question. Mention the therapy that encourages the client to seek personal growth and actualise their potential. Give its salient features.
Answer. The humanistic-existential therapies encourage personal growth and actualise the potential by expanding the client’s awareness. The therapist is merely facilitator and guide. It is the client who is responsible for the success of the therapy by the process of self-growth through which healing takes place.
The therapy creates a permissive, non-judgmental and accepting atmosphere in which the client’s emotions can be freely expressed and the complexity, balance and integration could be achieved. The fundamental assumption is that the client has the freedom and responsibility to control his/her own behaviour.

Question. What is the meaning of ‘Logotherapy’?
Answer. Neurotic anxieties arise when problems of life are attached to the physical, psychological and spiritual aspects of one’s existence. Victor Frankl emphasized the role of spiritual anxieties in leading to meaninglessness and hence is called existential anxiety, i.e. neurotic anxiety of spiritual origin. The goal of logotherapy is to help the patients find meaning and responsibility in their life irrespective of life circumstances. Transference is actively discouraged and the client finds meaning of his existence

Question. Describe client-centred therapy.
Answer. Client-centred therapy was given by Carl Rogers. The therapy provides a warm relationship in which therapist shows empathy, i.e., understanding the client’s experience as if it were his/her own and shows unconditional positive regard i.e. total acceptance of the client as s/he is. Unconditional warmth ensures that the client feels secure and trusts the therapist. The therapist reflects the feelings of the client in a non-judgmental manner. The reflection is achieved by rephrasing the statements of the client i.e. seeking simple clarifications to enhance the meaning of the client’s statements. The therapy helps a client to become his/her self with the therapist working as a facilitator.

Question. Describe the Biomedical therapy.
Answer. Medicines are prescribed by psychiatrists to treat psychological disorders. They are doctors specialized in the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. Severe mental disorders such as Schizophrenia or Bipolar disorders require antipsychotic drugs. Mental disorders such as Generalised Anxiety and Depression require milder drugs. The medicines prescribed to treat mental disorders can cause side-effects which need to be understood and monitored. Hence it is essential that medication is given under proper medical supervision.
Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) is another form of biomedical therapy. Mild electric  shock is given via electrodes to the brain of the patient to induce convulsions. ECT is given when drugs are not effective in controlling the symptoms of the patient.

CBSE Class 12 Psychology Chapter 5  Psychotherapeutics Short Answer Questions-II

Question. State four characteristics of psychotherapeutic approaches. 
Answer. All psychotherapeutic approaches have the following characteristics:
(i) There is systematic application of principles underlying the different theories of therapy,
(ii) Persons who have received practical training under expert supervision can practice psychotherapy, and not everybody. An untrained person may unintentionally cause more harm than any good,
(iii) The therapeutic situation involves a therapist and a client who seeks and receives help for his/her emotional problems,
(iv) The interaction of these two persons – the therapist and the client – results in the consolidation or formation of the therapeutic relationship. This is a confidential, interpersonal and dynamic relationship. This human relationship is central to any sort of psychological therapy and is the vehicle for change.

Question. Explain mental disorders from a cognitive perspective.
Answer. (i) Cognitive therapies locate the cause of psychological distress in irrational thoughts and beliefs. Repeated occurrence of these thoughts leads to the development of feelings of anxiety and depression.
(ii) The cognitive therapy challenges the faulty thinking patterns of the client to help her/him overcome psychological distress.
(iii) The cognitive therapy assumes that the therapist is able to recognise the faulty thought patterns of the client. It further assumes that the therapist is capable of finding out the correct thought patterns, which would be adaptive for the client.
(iv) The cognitive therapy considers changing faulty thought patterns to adaptive ones as the chief benefit of the treatment. Introducing adaptive or healthy thought patterns ensure reduction of distress and removal of symptoms. Cognitive therapy is short and is completed in a few months.

Question. Describe the strategies to be adopted to prevent mental disorders.
Answer. Prevention of mental disorders involves promotion of positive mental health by increasing psychological well-being, competence and resilience, and by creating supporting living conditions and environments so that an individual can face the challenges of every-day life. The following steps should be taken to promote positive mental health and hence prevent mental disorders:
(i) Increasing awareness and reducing stigma.
(ii) Schools and educational institutions to provide counselling to problems of children so that mental problems can be checked at the initial stage.
(iii) Appointment of industrial counsellors at work places so that a healthy environment and better relationships can be created between employees and employers.
(iv) Adult members of the community to intervene in cases where there is a possibility of suicide and to reduce alcoholic or drug addiction or help children who experience stress from poverty and abuse or are neglected.

Question. Explain psychological distress according to humanistic existential therapy.
Answer.
(i) Psychological distress arises from the feelings of loneliness, alienation and inability to find meaning and genuine fulfillment in life.
(ii) Human beings are motivated by the desire for personal growth and self-actualisation, and an innate need to grow emotionally. When these needs are curbed by society and family, human beings experience psychological distress. Frustration of self actualisation also causes distress.
(iii) The humanistic-existential therapies encourage personal growth and actualise the potential. Self actualisation requires free emotional expression. The family and society curb emotional expression which leads to destructive behaviour and negative emotions by thwarting the process of emotional expression. The therapist is merely facilitator and guide. It is the client who is responsible for the success of the therapy by the process of self-growth through which healing takes place.
(iv) The therapy creates a permissive, non-judgmental and accepting atmosphere in which the client’s emotions can be freely expressed and the complexity, balance and integration could be achieved. The fundamental assumption is that the client has the freedom and responsibility to control his/her own behaviour and the chief aim of the therapy is to expand the client’s awareness.

CBSE Class 12 Psychology Chapter 5  Psychotherapeutics Long Answer Questions 

Question. Discuss the relevance of psychodynamic approach to social adjustment.
OR
During therapy, Rishi shows resentment towards the therapist and starts avoiding therapy and processes being referred.
Answer. Psychodynamic therapy uses free association and dream interpretation as important methods for eliciting the psychological conflicts. A therapeutic relationship is established and the client feels comfortable, the therapist makes him/her lie down on the couch, close his/her eyes and asks him/her to speak whatever comes to mind without censoring it in anyway. The client is encouraged to freely associate one thought with another, and this method is called the method of free association. A relaxed and trusting atmosphere is created and as the therapist does not interrupt the free flow of ideas, desires and the conflicts of the unconscious, which had been suppressed by the ego, emerge into the conscious mind. Along with this technique, the client is asked to write down his/her dreams upon waking up. According to psychoanalysts, dreams are symbols of unfulfilled desires and are the royal road to the unconscious.

As the unconscious forces are brought into the conscious realm through free association and dream interpretation, the client starts identifying with the therapist with the authority figures of the past, usually childhood. The therapist is seen as a punitive father or as a negligent mother. The therapist maintains a non-judgmental and permissive attitude and allows the client to continue with this process of emotional identification. This is the process of transference. The client expresses his/her frustrations, anger, fear and depression that had been suppressed during the early childhood years. The therapist acts as the substitute for an authority figure and this stage is called transference neurosis. When the client idolizes or falls in love with the therapist and seeks the therapist’s approval, positive transference takes place while when the client has feelings of hostility, anger and resentment towards the therapist negative transference occurs.

The process of transference is met with resistance. Since the process of transference exposes the unconscious wishes and conflicts, thereby increasing the distress levels, the client resists transference. Due to resistance, the client opposes the progress of therapy in order to protect himself/herself from the recall of painful unconscious memories. Resistance can be conscious or unconscious. Conscious resistance is present when the client deliberately hides some information. Unconscious resistance is present when the client becomes silent during the therapy session, recalls trivial details without recalling the emotional ones, misses appointments and comes late for therapy sessions.

Change is effected by interpretation through confrontation and clarification. In confrontation, the therapist points out to the client an aspect of his/her psyche that must be faced by the client. Clarification is the process by which the therapist brings a vague or confusing event into sharp focus. The therapist uses the unconscious material that has been uncovered in the process of free association, dream interpretation, transference and resistance to make the client aware of the psychic contents and conflicts which have led to the occurrence of symptoms. The repeated process of using confrontation, clarification and interpretation is known as working through.

The outcome of working through is insight. During insight, the unconscious memories are repeatedly integrated into conscious awareness. Therapy is complete when the client starts to understand himself/herself better at intellectual and emotional level and gains insight into his/her conflicts and problems.
Psychoanalysis lasts for several years, with one hour session for 4-5 days per week.
It takes place in 3 stages:
Stage one is the initial phase when the patient becomes familiar with the routines, establishes a therapeutic relationship with the analyst, and gets some relief with the process of recollecting the superficial materials from the consciousness about the past and present troublesome events.
Stage two is the middle phase, which is characterized by transference, resistance on the part of the patient, and confrontation and clarification, i.e. working through on the therapist’s part. All these processes finally lead to insight.
The third phase is the termination phase wherein the relationship with the analyst is dissolved and the patient prepares to leave the therapy.

Question. Describe the method of treatment in behaviour therapy.
Answer. During behaviour therapy treatment is to extinguish or eliminate the faulty behaviors which cause distress and substitute them with adaptive behaviour patterns. Behavioural analysis is to find malfunctioning behaviours, the antecedents of faulty learning and the factors that maintain or continue faulty learning. Malfunctioning behaviours are those behaviours that cause distress to the client. Antecedent factors are those causes which predispose the person to indulge in that behaviour. Maintaining factors are those which lead to the persistence of the faulty behaviour. For example, in the malfunctioning behaviour of smoking, the anxiety-provoking situation is the causative or antecedent factor. The feeling of relief is the maintaining factor to continue smoking.The method of treatment is through establishing antecedent operations and consequent operations. Antecedent operations control behaviour by changing something that precedes a behaviour. Establishing operation is to increase or decrease the reinforcing value of a particular consequence. For example, if a child gives trouble in eating dinner, an establishing operation would be to decrease the quantity of food served at tea time. Praising the child when s/he eats properly tends to encourage this behaviour. The antecedent operation is the reduction of food at tea time and the consequent operation is praising the child for eating dinner.

Question. Explain psychological distress according to behaviour therapy. Describe any one behaviour technique.
Answer.
(i) During behaviour therapy, treatment is to extinguish or eliminate the faulty behaviours which cause distress and substitute them with adaptive behaviour patterns. Behavioural analysis is to find malfunctioning behaviours, the antecedents of faulty learning and the factors that maintain or continue faulty learning.
(ii) Malfunctioning behaviours are those behaviours that cause distress to the client.
Antecedent factors are those causes which predispose the person to indulge in that behaviour.
(iii) The principles of behaviour techniques are to reduce the arousal level of the client, alter behaviour through classical conditioning with different contingencies of reinforcement as well as to use vicarious learning procedures.

(a) Negative reinforcement refers to following an undesired response with an outcome that is painful or not liked. For example, the teacher reprimands a child who shouts in a class.

(b) Aversive conditioning refers to a repeated association of undesired response with an aversive consequence. For example, an alcoholic is given a mild electric shock and asked to smell the alcohol which leads to his leaving alcohol. If an adaptive behaviour occurs rarely, positive reinforcement increases the deficit. If a child does not do homework regularly, positive reinforcement may be used by the child’s mother by preparing the child’s favourite dish, which increases the behaviour of doing homework at an appointed time.

(c) Differential reinforcement is an effective method wherein positive reinforcement is given for wanted behaviour while negative reinforcement is given for unwanted behaviour. If a child cries for not being taken to cinema, the parent ignores the child when s/he cries and taken to cinema when s/he shows wanted behaviour.

Systematic desensitization is a technique used in behaviour therapy introduced by Wolpe for treating phobias or irrational fears. The therapist prepares a hierarchy of anxiety-provoking stimuli with the least anxiety-provoking stimuli at the bottom of the hierarchy. The therapist relaxes the client and asks the client to think of the least anxiety-provoking situation. The client is asked to stop thinking of the fearful situation if the slightest tension is felt. Over the sessions, the client is able to imagine more severe fear provoking situations while maintaining the relaxation. The client gets systematically desensitized to the fear. The process of systematic desensitization is based on the principle of reciprocal inhibition which states that two mutually opposing forces inhibits the weaker force.

(d) Persons with behavioural problems can be given a token as a reward every time a wanted behaviour occurs. This is known as token economy.

(e) Modelling is the procedure which uses the procedure of vicarious learning wherein the client learns to behave in a certain way by observing the behaviour of the therapist who acts as the role model. Vicarious learning is learning by observing others. It is the process of rewarding small changes in the behaviour, the client gradually learns to acquire the behaviour of the model.

Question. State the techniques used in behaviour therapy. 
Answer. The principles of behaviour techniques are to reduce the arousal level of the client, alter behaviour through classical conditioning with different contingencies of reinforcement as well as to use vicarious learning procedures.

Negative reinforcement refers to following an undesired response with an outcome that is painful or not liked. For example, the teacher reprimands a child who shouts in class. Aversive conditioning refers to repeated association of undesired response with an aversive consequence. For example, an alcoholic is given a mild electric shock and asked to smell the alcohol which leads to his leaving alcohol.
If an adaptive behaviour occurs rarely, positive reinforcement increases the deficit. If a child does not do homework regularly, positive reinforcement may be used by the child’s mother by preparing the child’s favourite dish which increases the behaviour of doing homework at appointed time.
Differential reinforcement is an effective method wherein positive reinforcement is given for wanted behaviour while negative reinforcement is given for unwanted behaviour. If a child cries for not being taken to cinema, the parent ignores the child when s/he cries and taken to cinema when s/he shows wanted behaviour.

Systematic desensitization is a technique used in behavior therapy introduced by Wolpe for treating phobias or irrational fears. The therapist prepares a hierarchy of anxietyprovoking stimuli with the least anxiety-provoking stimuli at the bottom of the hierarchy. The therapist relaxes the client and asks the client to think of the least anxiety-provoking situation. The client is asked to stop thinking of the fearful situation if the slightest tension is felt. Over sessions, the client is able to imagine more severe fear provoking situations while maintaining the relaxation. The client gets systematically desensitized to the fear. The process of systematic desensitization is based on the principle of reciprocal inhibition which states that two mutually opposing forces inhibits the weaker force. Persons with behavioural problems can be given a token as a reward every time a wanted behaviour occurs. This is known as Token Economy.
Modelling is the procedure which uses the procedure of vicarious learning wherein the client learns to behave in a certain way by observing the behaviour of the therapist who acts as the role model. Vicarious learning is learning by observing others. It is the process of rewarding small changes in the behaviour, the client gradually learns to acquire the behaviour of the model.

Question. What is psychotherapy? Discuss the factors that contribute to healing in psychotherapy.
Answer. Psychotherapy involves a voluntary, helping relationship that involves someone seeking help and someone trained to give help, in a setting that permits help to be given and received. The purpose of the relationship is to help the client to solve the psychological problems faced by him or her. The relationship is conducive for building the trust of the client so that problems may be freely discussed. Psychotherapies aim at changing the maladaptive behaviours, decreasing the sense of personal distress, and helping the client to adapt better to his environment.
Psychotherapy is a treatment of psychological distress. There are several processes which contribute to the healing process:
(i) Relaxation procedures and cognitive restructuring contribute to the healing.
(ii) The therapeutic alliance has healing properties because of the warmth and empathy provided by the therapist.
(iii) Healing is provided by unburdening the client of emotional problems by the process of catharsis.
(iv) There are several non-specific factors associated with psychotherapy. Non-specific factors attributable to the client/patient are motivation for change, expectation or improvement due to treatment. Non-specific factors attributable to the therapist are positive nature, absence of unresolved emotional conflicts, presence of good mental health.

 

1. Explain the process of psychotherapy.

2. Define the term ‘psychotherapy’. Explain its goals.

3. What are the different parameters on which psychotherapies are classified?

4. Explain the methods of eliciting the nature of intrapsychic conflicts in psychoanalysis.

5. Discuss the modality of treatment in psychoanalysis.

6. Discuss the following behaviour therapies:

(1) Negative reinforcement

(2) Aversive conditioning

(3) Positive reinforcement

(4) Token economy

(5) Principle of reciprocal inhibition

7. How does Wolpe explain treatment of phobias?

8. Write short notes on the following cognitive therapies:

(1) Rational emotive therapy

(2) Cognitive therapy by Beck

(3) Cognitive Behaviour therapy

9. Write short notes on Humanistic-Existential Therapy:

(1) Existential therapy

(2) Client-centered therapy

(3) Gestalt therapy

10. How does biomedical therapy treat psychological disorders?