Chapter 14: Treating Psychological Disorders
Activities
Exercises: Read, Listen & Learn
- Have we Overestimated the Effectiveness of Psychotherapy: An article describing the results of a meta-analysis of studies looking at the effectiveness of psychotherapy. (https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/03/20/have-we-overestimated-the-effectiveness-of-psychotherapy/)
- Beyond Entertainment: Virtual Reality to Ease Anxiety no Longer Just Sci-Fi Stuff: Looking at the use of virtual reality in helping people suffering from anxiety. (http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/beyond-entertainment-virtual-reality-to-ease-anxiety-no-longer-just-sci-fi-stuff-1.3896459)
- Can Apps Improve Your Mental Wellbeing: An overview of some apps directed at improving people’s mental wellbeing. (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/sep/12/can-apps-improve-your-mental-wellbeing)
- Therapy Wars: The Revenge of Freud: A podcast discussing the potential benefits of psychotherapy.
(https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2016/jan/25/therapy-wars-the-revenge-of-freud) - The Placebo Effect: A great TedEd talk. (https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-power-of-the-placebo-effect-emma-bryce)
Exercises: Read & Learn
- A discussion of Carl Rogers and the Person-Centred Approach
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b063ztb0) - ‘I’m Sorry to Hear that’: Why Training Siri to be a Therapist Won’t be Easy: An article looking at the problems inherent in using Siri to respond to mental-health issues
(http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/i-m-sorry-to-hear-that-why-training-siri-to-be-a-therapist-won-t-be-easy-1.4302866)
Exercises: Do & Think
- Biomedical Treatments: Crash Course Psychology #36 – A quick look at how we can evaluate the effectiveness of different therapies.https://youtu.be/w2efaHgJ93AVideo 14.1: Biomedical Treatments (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2efaHgJ93A) uploaded by CrashCourse on October 27, 2014.
- Pop Psych: the Best (and Worst) TV Therapists of 2016
Sometimes we can learn what makes a good teacher by watching a bad one at work – the same is true with therapists. Many TV shows feature therapists, this article spotlights some of the good ones and some of the bad. Watch the shows and see if you can identify what the “good” therapists have in common (http://www.observercom/2016/12/pop-psych-the-best-and-worst-tv-therapists-of-2016/). - Watch this video, Getting Help – Psychotherapy: Crash Course Psychology #35, then see if you can answer the questions a through d (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nEL44QkL9w)
Video 14.1: Getting Help – Psychotherapy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nEL44QkL9w) uploaded by Crash Course.
a. Humanistic based therapy would be most likely to focus on:
i) personal growth
ii) early childhood experiences
iii) unconscious feelings
vi) unconscious behaviour
b.Free association and dream analysis would most likely be used by a(n):
i) behaviorist
ii) psychoanalyst
iii) humanist
vi) rationalist
c. Which of these is the odd one out?
i) Pavlov
ii) Thorndike
iii) Skinner
vi) Maslow
d. Client centred therapy was developed by:
i) Freud
ii) Jung
iii) Rogers
vi) Skinner
e. Cognitive therapy tends to focus on:
i) what people dream about
ii) what people think
iii) how people behave
vi) people’s physiological state
Answers for 3: a. i | b. ii | c. vi | d. iii | e. ii
References
Abrams, J. C. (2016, December 29). Pop psych: the best (and worst) TV therapists of 2016. Retrieved from http://observer.com/2016/12/pop-psych-the-best-and-worst-tv-therapists-of-2016/
Annenberg Learner. Approaches in practice. Retrieved from https://www.learner.org/series/discoveringpsychology/therapeutic/index.html
Boudjikanian, R. (Dec. 24, 2016) CBC News. Beyond entertainment: Virtual reality to ease anxiety no longer just sci-fi stuff. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/beyond-entertainment-virtual-reality-to-ease-anxiety-no-longer-just-sci-fi-stuff-1.3896459
Bryce, E. (March 24, 2016). The power of the placebo effect [Video file]. Retrieved from https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-power-of-the-placebo-effect-emma-bryce
Burkeman, O. (2016, January 25). The Guardian. Therapy wars: the revenge of Freud [Audio file]. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2016/jan/25/therapy-wars-the-revenge-of-freud
Crash Course. (2014, October 21). Getting help – psychotherapy – crash course psychology #35 [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nEL44QkL9w
Crash Course. (2014, October 27). Biomedical treatments – crash course psychology #36 [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2efaHgJ93A
Fleming, A. (September 12, 2016). The Guardian. Can apps improve your mental wellbeing? Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/sep/12/can-apps-improve-your-mental-wellbeing
Hamond, C. (2015, August 26). BBC iPlayer Radio 4. Mind Changers – Carl Rogers and the person centred approach [Podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b063ztb0
Jarrett, C. (March 20, 2017). The British Psychological Society. Research Digest. Have we overestimated the effectiveness of psychotherapy. Retrieved from https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/03/20/have-we-overestimated-the-effectiveness-of-psychotherapy/