Social workers
Are qualified psychosocial healthcare professionals who have obtained a degree in social work
Psychiatrists
Are qualified medical doctors who have specialised in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders
Insight therapies
Involve verbal interactions intended to enhance the clients self-knowledge and thus promote healthy changes in personality and behaviour
The outcome and session rating scale
A psychometric instrument or standardised scientific test
Psychoanalysis
Is an insight therapy that emphasises the recovery of unconscious conflicts, motives and defences through techniques such as free associations and transference
Free association
Clients spontaneously express their thoughts and feelings exactly as they occur with as little censorship as possible
Dream analysis
The therapist interprets the symbolic meaning of a clients dream
Resistance
Refers to largely unconscious defensive tactics intended to hinder the progress of therapy
Transference
Occurs when clients starts relating to their therapists in ways that mimic critical relationships in their lives
Client centred therapy
Is an insight therapy that emphasises providing a supportive emotional climate for clients who play a major role in determining the pace and direction of their therapy
Group therapy
Is the simultaneous treatment of several clients in a group
Couples or marital therapy
Involves the treatment of both partners in a committed intimate relationship in which the main focus is on relationship issues
Family therapy
Involves the treatment of a family unit as a whole in which the main focus is on family dynamics and communication
Spontaneous remission
Psychological disorders clear up by themselves
Behaviour therapies
Involves the application of the principles of learning and conditioning to direct efforts to change clients’ maladaptive behaviours
Systematic desensitisation
Is a behaviour therapy used to reduce clients’ phobic responses
Exposure therapies
Clients are confronted with situations they fear so that they learn that these situations are really harmless
Social skills training
Is a behaviour therapy designed to improve interpersonal skills that emphasises modelling behavioural rehearsal and shaping
Cognitive behavioural treatments (CBT)
Use combinations of verbal interventions and behaviour modification techniques to help clients maladaptive patterns of thinking
Cognitive therapy
Uses specific strategies to correct habitual thinking errors that underlie various types of disorders
Cognitive bias modifications
Consists of varied procedures that attempt to directly change automatic biases in thinking that are known to contribute to various disorders
Biomedical therapies
Are psychological interventions intended to reduce symptoms associated with psychological disorders
Anti-anxiety drugs
Reduce tension apprehension and nervousness
Antipsychotic drugs
Are used to gradually reduce psychotic symptoms including hyperactivity mental confusion hallucinations and delusions
