PSYCHOTHERAPY AND ITS CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS
PRESENTORDR.A.GODSON,MD( Psychiatry)
DEFINITION
Psychotherapy is the treatment, by psychological means ,of problems, of an emotional nature, in which a trained person deliberately establishes professional relationship with the patient ,with the object of
1.removing,modifying or retarding the existing symptoms
2.mediating disturbed pattern of behaviour and 3.promoting positive personality growth and
development
HISTORYBased on the concept of psychoanalysis Freud- Psychoanalysis,unconscious,defence
mechanisms which provided the first model of understanding and subsequent treatment of neurosis.
Carl Jung- analytical psychology based on interpretation of fantasy and dreams
Adler-Developed a theory called Individual Psychology which concerned with how the patients life style is developed. He also emphasized the social factors in human development.
Melanie Klein, Winnicott, Fairbairn-Developed Psychoanalytic psychotherapy based on elaboration,modification and extension of Freuds ideas.They defined that the basic drive is neither instinctual or purely social, but based on a desire to relate to others-to love and to be loved
Franz Alexander- Brief psychodynamic psychotherapy
Based on Human potential movements(therapy and theory aim to be accessible and useful for as many people as possible)
Carl Rogers- Developed Person centered therapy that based on every one is whole and good and well motivated .The task of the therapy is to draw this out.
Rolo May-Existential therapy Fitz perls- Gestalt therapy Janov –Primal therapy Jacob Moreno - Psychodrama
Based on learning theories Skinners , Eyesenk– Behavioural therapy Wolpe – Systemic desensitization Becks – cognitive therapy Master Johnson – Sex therapy
Based on conceptual space between Human potential movements & learning theories Rational emotive therapy Couple therapy-Nathan Ackerman Bereavement counseling Sex therapy Behavioural modification groups
PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY
It based on psychoanalysis Use of insight oriented methods only. Two types of techniques-expressive
and supportive. Brief treatment for selected problem or
highly focused conflicts Long treatment for chronic condition or
intermittent episodes
PSYCHOANALYTIC METHOD INVOLVES FOLLOWING:
Free association: A technique in which invite the patient to say whatever thought came to their minds without censoring their thoughts
Transference: displacement of patients early feelings and wishes toward a person from past ,onto the therapist.
Countertransference: opposite to transference in which therapist’s feeling towards the patient
EXPRESSIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY One to three times a week for several sessions Patient and therapist face to face /couch can be
used to gain access to fantasy or dreams Indications and contraindications: mild to moderate
ego weakening including neurotic conflicts, nonpsychotic character disorders like narcissistic behavior disorder and narcissistic personality disorders,recommended for borderline personality disorder
Goals : to increase the patient's self-awareness ,to improve object relations through exploration of current interpersonal events and perceptions.
Major techniques: Limited free association, confrontation, clarification, and partial interpretation
SUPPORTIVE PSYCHOTHERAPY Chief form used in the general practice of
medicine and rehabilitation, frequently to augment extratherapeutic measures
Goal: to support reality testing, to provide ego support, maintain or reestablish usual level of functioning.
Selection criteria: very healthy patient faced with overwhelming crisespatient with ego deficits
Duration : days, months, or years—as needed
TECHNIQUE:
1. Therapist predictably available. 2. Interpretation used to strengthen defenses. 3. Therapist maintains working reality based
relationship based on support,concern and problem solving.
4. Suggestion,reinforcement,advice,reality testing,cognitive reconstructing,and reassurance.
5. Psychodynamic life narrative.6. Medications
INDICATION For those patients for whom classic psychoanalysis or
insight-oriented psychoanalytic psychotherapy is typically contraindicated ,poor ego strength, potential for decompensation is high.
Amenable patients fall into the following major areas: (1) acute crisis or a temporary state of disorganization
and inability to cope whose intolerable life circumstances have produced extreme anxiety
(2) patients with chronic severe pathology with fragile or deficient ego functioning
(3) patients whose cognitive deficits and physical symptoms make them particularly vulnerable and, thus, unsuitable for an insight-oriented approach
(4) individuals who are psychologically unmotivated, although not necessarily characterologically resistant to a depth approach
INDICATIONS
EXPRESSIVE SUPPORTIVE
Strong motivation to understand
Significant suffering Tolerance for frustration Capacity for insight Intact reality testing Meaningful object
relations Good impulse control Ability to sustain work Reflective responses to
trial interpretations
Significant ego defects of a long-term nature
Severe life crisis Poor frustration
tolerance Lack of insight Poor reality testing Severely impaired
object relations Poor impulse control Low intelligence Organically based
cognitive dysfunction
BRIEF PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY
Time-limited treatment- 10 to 12 sessions.
Based on psychoanalysis and psychodynamic theory.
Used for Depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder.
Franz alexander and thomas french identified the basic characteristics
MALAN AND THE TAVISTOCK GROUP: BRIEF FOCAL PSYCHOTHERAPY Goal: Clarify the nature of the defense, the
anxiety, and the impulseLink the present, the past, and the transference
Selection criteria : Patient able to think in feeling termsHigh motivation,Good response to trial interpretation
Duration: Up to one year,Mean of 20 sessions Focus: Internal conflict present since childhood Termination: Set definite date at beginning of
treatment
MANN: TIME-LIMITED PSYCHOTHERAPY Goal: Resolution of the present and chronically
endured pain and the patient's negative self-image Selection criteria: High ego strength
Able to engage and disengageTherapist quickly able to identify a central issueExcludes major depressive disorder, acute psychosis, and borderline personality disorder
Duration: 12 treatment hours Focus: Present and chronically endured pain
Particular image of the self Termination :Specific last session set at beginning
of treatment,Termination is a major focus of the therapy work
DAVANLOO: SHORT-TERM DYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY
Goal: Resolution of oedipal conflict, loss focus, or multiple foci
Selection criteria Psychological-mindedness
At least one past meaningful relationshipAble to tolerate affectGood response to trial transference interpretationHigh motivationFlexible defensesLack of projection, splitting, and denial
Duration: usually 5–25, Longer durations for seriously ill
Termination: No specific termination date Patient is told that treatment will be short
SHORT-TERM ANXIETY-PROVOKING PSYCHOTHERAPY Goal: Resolution of oedipal conflict Selection criteria: Above-average intelligence
At least one past meaningful relationshipHigh motivationSpecific chief complaintAble to interact with evaluatorAble to express feelingsFlexible
Duration: A few months Focus: Oedipal conflict Termination: No specific date given
GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY Created by joseph pratt The main aim is to increase personal knowledge and
understanding when relating with others thus permanent change in attitudes.
Duration: 6-18 months , weekly once or twice meeting last for 90 mts
Organising group psychotherapy After selection of patient he should be examined
individually by the conductor Patients should not meet socially outside the hospital Any significant life change should be informed to the
group Repeated disruptive behavior may lead to expulsion from
the group Severly psychotic,paranoid,excessively narcissistic
should not be included
THERAPEUTIC PHENOMENA COMMON TO ALL GROUPS
Cohesiveness-The feeling of belonging to and being accepted by the group which is essential for curiosity and self revelation
Interaction- By observing their own and each others behavior their awareness and insight is increased which was motivated by interaction
Universality- Members discover that others are very similar to them in feelings and actions. This counters the fear of being singled out for criticism and leads to trusting ,sharing
CONT….
Hope- if one person is discouraged ,others may increase the hope by encouragement
Guidance- Either by example or directly members make suggestions to one another
Vicarious learning- everyone has the chance to learn some idea or difficulty from others
Corrective emotional experience-some person in the group may be identified as parent figure
Stages in the life cycle of groups Dependency- Anxiety is at its highest when
the group forms ,due to expectation of who is the leader ,what are the rules. Such anxiety leads to find out some person as leader
Conflict- Lateness,absence,non-cooperation, aggressive criticism, of other members are characteristic of this stage. If the stage passed successfully trust and tenderness developed.
Intimacy-little by little reality creeps into groups. The surest sign of this stage is that opposites can be allowed to exist together, thus avoiding childlike extremes.
TYPES OF GROUP PSYCHOTHERAPY
Supportive group therapy Analytically oriented group therapy Psychoanalysis of groups Transactional group therapy Behavioral group therapy
Group psychotherapy effective for- Relationship difficulties Problems in groups Compulsive repetition of self depriving
behavior General dissatisfaction with life Family therapy Marital counseling
PSYCHODRAMA
Method of group psychotherapy Viennese-born psychiatrist Jacob moreno Personality makeup, interpersonal relationships,
conflicts, and emotional problems are explored by means of special dramatic methods.
Therapeutic dramatization of emotional problems includes the
Following roles: Protagonist -patient in conflict Auxiliary egos- persons who enact varying aspects
of the patient,who represent some experience of pt The director- psychodramatist, or therapist, the
person who guides those in the drama toward the acquisition of insight.
BEHAVIOUR THERAPY Based on theory of learning which Explains how
behaviours are learned and unlearned. It views symptoms as a part of behavior which have
maladaptive learning. Behavioral views differ from cognitive views in holding
that physical, rather than mental, events control behavior.
Aim : To abolish an undesirable response to a normal life stimulus and replace it with desirable behavior.
Three phases of behavioural analysis Identification of nature of the problem that the trigger of
the behavior ,the behavior itself,and the consequences. Intervention at a particular target point of maladaptive
behavior Impact of the behaviour on life style ,relationships
SYSTEMATIC DESENSITIZATION Developed by Wolpe, based on the behavioral
principle of counterconditioning.Relaxation Training: Most methods use so-called progressive relaxation,
developed by the psychiatrist Edmund Jacobson. Suggestions to relax major muscle groups in a fixed
order, beginning with the small muscle groups of the feet and working cephalad or vice versa
Relaxation produces physiological effects opposite to those of anxiety
Hierarchy Construction: determine all the conditions that elicit anxiety, then patients create a hierarchy list of 10 to 12
scenes in order of increasing anxiety.
CONT…
Desensitization of the Stimulus: patients proceed systematically through the
list from the least, to the most, anxiety-provoking scene while in a deeply relaxed state.
Indications: Clearly identifiable anxiety provoking
stimulus- Phobias, obsessions, compulsions, and certain sexual disorders
THERAPEUTIC-GRADED EXPOSURE
Relaxation training is not involved treatment is usually carried out in a real-life context
Flooding Similar to graded exposure but no hierarchy. Based on the premise that escaping from an anxiety-
provoking experience reinforces the anxiety through conditioning. Thus, clinicians can extinguish the anxiety and prevent the conditioned avoidance behavior by not allowing patients to escape the situation.
No relaxation exercises are used. Contraindicated when intense anxiety would be hazardous
to a patient e.x, Those with heart disease or fragile psychological adaptation.
Implosion or imaginal flooding is a variant of flooding in which the feared object is confronted only in the imagination.
Participant Modeling In participant modeling, patients learn a new
behavior by imitation, primarily by observation Useful with phobic children who are placed with other
children of their own age and sex who approach the feared object or situation. Used successfully with agoraphobia
Assertiveness Training Assertiveness is defined as follows: Assertive
behavior enables a person to act in his or her own best interest, to stand up for herself or himself without undue anxiety, to express honest feelings comfortably, and to exercise personal rights without denying the rights of others
Social Skills Training: Conversation, conflict management,
assertiveness, community living, friendship and dating, work and vocation, and medication management.
Useful in negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia,depression,social phobia.
Aversion Therapy When a noxious stimulus (punishment) is
presented immediately after a specific behavioral response, theoretically, the response is eventually inhibited and extinguished.
Used for alcohol abuse, paraphilias, behaviours with impulsive and compulsive qualities, Opioid addicts
Positive Reinforcement When a behavioral response is followed by a
generally rewarding event, such as food, avoidance of pain, or praise, it tends to be strengthened and to occur more frequently than before the reward. Combined with Social Skills Training used in schizophrenia
Sex therapy Developed by William Masters and Virginia Johnson,
is a behavior therapy technique used for various sexual dysfunctions, especially male erectile disorder, orgasm disorders, and premature ejaculation. It uses relaxation, desensitization, and graded exposure as the primary techniques
Advantages of behaviour therapy: used successfully for a variety of disorders and can be
easily taught It requires less time than other therapies and is less expensive to administer
Behaviour therapy –use in psychiatric disorders Anxiety disorder Agoraphobia and panic disorder Social phobia& simple phobia Obsessive- compulsive disorder Post traumatic stress disorder Mood disorder&schizophrenia Somatoform disorder Eating disorders Psychosomatic &psychosexual disorders Substance abuse Conduct disorder&ADHD
COGNITIVE THERAPY
Cognitive therapy is a short-term, structured ,therapy that uses active collaboration between patient and therapist to achieve its therapeutic goals, which are oriented toward current problems and their resolution.
It is designed to change the behaviour directly as many behaviours are maintained by consequences
Abnormal thinking is due to Intrusive thoughts(automatic thoughts)-provoke an
immediate emotional reaction Dysfunctional beliefs and attitudes-Determine the
way of perceiving and interpreting situations. Maintained by-selective attention to unfavorable
outcome,thinking illogically ,safety seeking behaviour
General features of CBT Pt is an active partner ,therapist only guides the pt Attention to provoking & maintaining factors by ABC
approach-anticidents,behaviour,consequences.The main aim of therapy is to break this chain.
Making attention to way of thinking by daily thought records
Investigation itself make insight to problems and gives solutions.Even failure also have benefits
Pt given with home work assignments and behavioural experiments
The highly structured sessions involves-review,teaching,summarization
Progress should be monitored Treatment manuals should be given to patient
Cognitive model of information processing
Perception of an event ↓ Activation of relevant schema ↓ Altered information processing ↓ Automatic thoughts ↗ ↙ ↖ ↘Behavioural symptoms ↔ Emotional symptoms
Schemas-Relatively stable cognitive pattern that are the result of
ones beliefs,attitudes and behaviour
COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS Arbitrary inference - Drawing a specific conclusion
without sufficient evidence Specific abstraction- Focus on a single detail while
ignoring other, more important aspects of an experience
Overgeneralization - Forming conclusions based on too little and too narrow experience
Magnification and minimization – Over or undervaluing the significance of a particular event
Personalization - Tendency to self-reference external events without basis
Absolutist, dichotomous thinking - Tendency to place experience into all-or-none categories
.
BECK’S TRIAD
Aaron Beck postulated a cognitive triad of depression that consists of (1) views about the self—a negative self-precept; (2) about the environment—a tendency to experience the world as hostile and demanding, and (3) about the future—the expectation of suffering and failure. Therapy consists of modifying these distortions
Effective for: Depression Obsessive compulsive disorder Anxiety disorder Eating disorders Schizophrenia Phobias Panic disorder Post traumatic stress disorders Suicidal behaviour Somatoform disorders
REEDUCATIVE PSYCHOTHERAPYCLIENT CENTRED THERAPY Developed by Carl Rojers. The therapy is based on the
idea that a human being is possessed of innate goodness and actualizing tendencies ,leading to a balanced,realistic behaviour.
The guiding principle of this therapy is oriented around the fact that the client is the one responsible for his own destiny and he possesses the right choice to solve his own problems, irrespective of the choice of the therapist
Therapy consist of : Attentive listening of clients feeling and contents, accepting it in a tolerant nonjudgemental way, avoiding any attempt to impose directions,
Effective for: general dissatisfaction in life, difficulties due to painful past events, relationship difficulties, bereavement, adjustment to illness
CRISIS INTERVENTION The crisis may precipitate around any incident
that overwhelms ones coping capacities. During that time the immediate response is denial ,accompanied by numbness and detachment. The mind attempt to protect itself by repressing what had happened.
Goal: Main goal is rapid emotional relief but not basic personality modification. Normally six therapy is sufficient
Techniques: Reassurance, confrontation, narcoanalysis, environmental manipulation, hypnotic probing, guidance ,psychotropic medications, at times brief hospitalization
BIOFEEDBACK Useful for those who are fearful of the labels of psychotherapy
and psychiatric illness. Biofeedback involves the recording and display of small
changes in the physiological levels of the feedback parameter. The display can be visual, such as a big meter or a bar of lights, or auditory. Patients are instructed to change the levels of the parameter, using the feedback from the display as a guide.
Biofeedback is based on the idea that the autonomic nervous system can come under voluntary control through operant conditioning. In which the person is gradually learns to how to protect the physiological effects of distress.
Neal Miller demonstrated the medical potential of biofeedbackTechniques : Instrumentation, Jacobson progressive muscular
relaxation ,Applied technique,Useful in : migraine, hypertension, phobia ,chronic pains,
cerebral palsy, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma
FAMILY THERAPY Family therapy can be defined as any psychotherapeutic
endeavor that explicitly focuses on altering the interactions between or among family members and seeks to improve the functioning of the family as a unit, or its subsystems, and/or the functioning of individual members of the family.
Goals: To resolve or reduce pathogenic conflict and anxiety within
the matrix of interpersonal relationships; To enhance the perception and fulfillment by family members
of one another's emotional needs; To promote appropriate role relationships between the sexes
and generations; To strengthen the capacity of individual members and the
family as a whole to cope with destructive forces inside and outside the surrounding environment;
To influence family identity and values so that members are oriented toward health and growth.
Techniques: Initial consultation to overcome the resistance due
to fears by parents that they will be blamed for their child's difficulties, that the entire family will be pronounced sick, that a spouse will object, and that open discussion of one child's misbehavior will have a negative influence on siblings.
Avoiding free association and careful channeling of identified problems in family between family members.
Sessions held for once a week lasting for 2 hrs.
Indications: Problems in relationship within family-primary marital
discord,communication gap. Interdependence of symptoms-wifes depression being
contigent on husbands alcoholism. Emotional disorder in child resulting from conflicting
parents. Failure of individual therapyPsychiatric illness requiring assessment for family therapy: Neurosis, adjustment disorders, conduct/emotional
disorders of children, substance abuse, sexual dysfunction
Contraindications: Major psychopathology in family. Extramarital/homosexual tendencies, Non availability of key family members
COUPLE THERAPYGoal: The goals of therapy for partner relational problems are to
alleviate emotional distress and disability and to promote the levels of well-being of both partners together and of each as an individual.
Indications: Problems in communication between partners are a prime
indication for couples therapy. Unresolved conflict or stress in relationship. One partner having mental illness resulting in emergence of
symptoms in healthy partner when the sick on starts resolving. Difficult or failed individual therapy. Conflicts in one or several areas, such as the partners' sexual lifeContraindication: Unwillingness of one partner. Inability to control hostility in one or both partners. Paranoid partner,severe form of psychosis, When really want for divorce
HYPNOSIS Anton Franz Anton Mesmer first described hypnosis
as a therapeutic modality Sigmund Freud used hypnosis as part of his
psychoanalysis, Ernst Simmel a German psychoanalyst, developed a
technique for accessing repressed material that he named hypnoanalysis.
Definition: Hypnosis is currently understood as a normal activity of a normal mind through which attention is more focused, critical judgment is partially suspended, and peripheral awareness is diminished.
The process of hypnosis takes the hypnotizability trait and transforms it into the hypnotized state
Experiencing the hypnotic concentration state requires a convergence of three essential components:
Absorption - is an ability to reduce peripheral awareness that results in a greater focal attention.
Dissociation - is the separating out from consciousness elements of the patient's identity, perception, memory, or motor response as the hypnotic experience deepens.
Suggestibility - is the tendency of the hypnotized patient to accept signals and information with a relative suspension of normal critical judgment
Indications Hypnosis are clinically useful in diagnosis
and in treatment. Facilitating acceptance of new thoughts and
feelings makes it useful in treating habitual problems and also with symptom management.
Smoking, overeating, phobias, anxiety, conversion symptoms, and chronic pain are all indications for hypnosis
Hypnosis can also aid in psychotherapy, notably for posttraumatic stress disorder, and it has been used for memory retrieval
INTERPERSONAL PSYCHOTHERAPY Interpersonal psychotherapy (ITP), a time-limited treatment
for major depressive disorder tested in randomized clinical trials by Gerald L. Klerman and Myrna Weissman.
The overall goal of ITP is to reduce or eliminate psychiatric symptoms by improving the quality of the patient's current interpersonal relations and social functioning.
The typical course of ITP lasts 12 to 20 sessions over a 4- to 5-month period.
ITP moves through three defined phases: (1) The initial phase is dedicated to identifying the problem
area that will be the target for treatment (2) The intermediate phase is devoted to working on the
target problem area(s)(3) The termination phase is focused on consolidating gains
made during treatment and preparing the patients for future work on their own
Common interpersonal problem areas: Grief -Complicated bereavement after the death of a loved one Interpersonal deficits -A history of social impoverishment,
inadequate or unsustaining interpersonal relationships Role transitions -Economic or family change—the beginning or end
of a relationship or career, a move, promotion, retirement, graduation, diagnosis of a medical illness
Interpersonal role disputes -Conflicts with a significant other—a partner, other family member, coworker, or close friend
Group format of interpersonal therapy ITP delivered in a group format has many potential benefits in
comparison with individual treatment. For example, a group format in which membership is based on diagnostic similarity (e.g., depression, social phobia, eating disorders) can help alleviate patients' concerns that they are the only one with a particular psychiatric disorder, while offering a social environment for patients who have become isolated, withdrawn, or disconnected from others. Group size consists of 6-9 members lasts for 20 sessions over a 5 months period.
GESTALT THERAPY It’s a type of reconstructive psychotherapy based on post
Freudian psychoanalytic method. According to this theory ideally an object (figure)and its
field(ground) should blent in harmonious assemblage(gestalt).
The therapy requires a search for repressed material, the mechanism through which repression is maintained ,as well as the specific needs of the repression.
To organize a mature figure-ground gestalt the dissociated aspects of an individual should be restored to his total being. Guidance in bringing these to awareness is the important step.
Empty chair technique: The pt was urged to imagine a parental figure or any important figure sitting in nearly empty chair and then talk to reproach or question the imaginary occupant, followed by changing the seats and acting the part of the person known as role reversal.
TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
Suggested by Eric Berne . There are 3 different ego states in every person:
Child within a person, Parent, Grownup mature reasonable adult self.
Each of these aspects perceives the reality differently. The 3 are constantly operating in response to the need of a person and the kinds of past times.
During therapy the 3 ego states are displayed in the relationship with the therapist, are interpreted to the patient. The function of the child and the parent within the pt and the origin of these in life history are ventilated. Ultimately the adult becomes stronger by displacing the child and parent
EXISTENTIAL THERAPY
This is more philosophical than form of psychotherapy developed by Rollo may. Existential therapy seeks to understand how something is experienced by person himself instead of interpretation designed to fit a patients experience into a particular framework.
Aim: To help the pt to discover their own response to life and to be able to accept life’s limitations and possibilities.
Technique: Exploration through honest reflection ,of the attitudes, feelings, and world view of the pt
Effective for- Dissatisfaction with life, interest in growing as a person, and realizing personl potential.
CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD ENOUGH THERAPIST
Genuine &Respectful Encouraging Understandable sensitive practical& interested relaxed and in control Confidential Able to finish the interview
Common contraindications for psychotherapy Older age Low intelligence poor motivation Antisocial personality disorder
Conclusion: No psychotherapeutic method exists today that is
acceptable to all patients or easy to operations for all therapists. The technique by which transformation comes about accord with the skill of the therapist who applies them and with the facility of the patient to accept & utilize preferred interventions .Since psychotherapy is a learning process ,it works best if the patient coordinate with his unique method of learning.
References Kaplan and Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry Text book of postgraduate Psychiatry-Ahuja Thorson’s principles of Psychotherapy-Brice Avery Short text book of Oxford
THANK YOU
Top Related