Ch 11 - Jeff Standen

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Key terms Self-actualisation Realising the human potential for selfawareness, self-worth and self-fulfilment. Unconditional positive regard Seeing others in a positive light and recognising their worth without any conditions. Client-centred therapy A therapy which allows clients to discover and accept themselves without advice, judgement or criticism from the therapist. ( Summary 1 The humanistic model sees human beings as essentially good. <strong>Ch</strong>ildren need unconditional positive regard in order to develop self-acceptance and self-worth. Problems arise when the route to self-actualisation is blocked. The humanistic model A model which sees psychological wellbeing resulting from self-actualisation. Activity 4 Client-centred therapy Item A |( Listening to the client Client Yes, I know I shouldn't worry about it, but I do. Lots of things - money, people, clothes. I can't stand people laughing at me. I can't stand ridicule. That's why I'm afraid of kids. When I meet somebody I wonder what he's actually thinking of me. Then later on I wonder how I match up to what he's come to think of me. Therapist You feel that you're pretty responsive to the opinions of other people. Client Yes, but it's things that shouldn't worry me. Therapist You feel that it's the sort of things that shouldn't be upsetting, but they do get you pretty much worried anyway. Client Things just seem to be piling up, piling up inside of me. At home, I used to wear it off by socking the doors. It's a feeling that things were crowding up and they were going to burst. Therapist You feel that it's a sort of oppression with some frustration and that things are just unmanageable. Client In a way, but some things just seem illogical. I'm afraid I'm not very clear here but that's the way it comes. Therapist That's all right. You say just what you think. Adapted from Snyder, 1947 What aspects of client-centred therapy are illustrated by Item A? ( Unit 6 The cognitive model of abnormality J KEY ISSUES 1. What are the main features of the cognitive model? 2. What is cognitive therapy? |[ The main features of the cognitive model The cognitive model developed in the 1960s and 70s and is very influential today. It draws ideas from all the psychological models discussed so far. The cognitive model starts from the idea that to understand human behaviour, we must understand human thought. This involves understanding how people see themselves and the world around them, how they interpret and make sense of their own behaviour and the behaviour of others. The cognitive model assumes that people's thoughts direct their emotions and behaviour. Psychological disorders are seen to result from 'errors in thinking', 'irrational assumptions' and 'negative perceptions' which are harmful to the individual.
Consider the following 'irrational beliefs'. • I must always please others. • I must always be perfect in what I do. Anyone holding these beliefs is doomed to failure and disappointment. It is impossible to please all of the people all of the time. And no matter how hard a person strives, a life of perfection is beyond their reach. Cognition and depression Aaron Beck's (1967; 1997) theory of depression illustrates the cognitive approach to psychological disorders. According to Beck, negative thinking produces negative moods which can lead to depression. Beck uses the term cognitive triad to refer to the three main forms of negative thinking - negative views of 1) the self ('I am worthless'), 2) the world ('Everything is against me'), and 3) the future ('Nothing is ever going to change'). Negative thoughts can produce errors in thinking. These errors include: • Arbitrary inference A conclusion based on insufficient evidence or no evidence at all. For example, my car broke down because I am a worthless person. • Selective abstraction A conclusion based on one of many aspects of a situation. I forgot to put salt in the potatoes which ruined the entire dinner party and showed what a useless host I am. • Overgeneralisation A generalisation based on a single, often trivial event. A teacher assumes that he is no good at his job because a student falls asleep in his class. Beck argues that negative thoughts lead to negative emotions which can lead to depression. There is plenty of evidence to support Beck's theory. Research indicates that compared to nondepressed people, depressed individuals are more negative in terms of themselves, the world, and the future. In addition, they are more likely to make the kind of errors in thinking that Beck identifies. The key question, however, is whether negative thinking precedes and contributes to the onset of depression or whether it results from depression and contributes to its maintenance. According to Davison and Neale (1998), 'the relationship in all likelihood works both ways; depression can make thinking more negative, and negative thinking can probably cause and certainly worsen depression'. Longitudinal studies - studies of a group of people over time - are needed to investigate this question. The ongoing Temple-Wisconsin study of cognitive vulnerability to depression provides some preliminary answers. A sample of first year university students, none of whom was suffering from depression at the time, were assessed every few months. Results for the first 21/2 years suggest that those students who were prone to negative thinking were more likely to become depressed. Seventeen per cent of high-risk participants (those with high scores for negative thinking) compared to 1% of low-risk participants (those with low scores) went on to experience a period of severe depression (discussed in Barlow and Durand, 1999). Cognitive therapy As the model implies, cognitive therapy for psychological disorders involves changing thoughts in order to change emotions and behaviour. Albert Ellis (1962), developed rational-emotive therapy which, as its name suggests, encourages rational thinking in order to change emotions. The therapist's job is to help their clients to recognise the irrational assumptions which govern their lives and to change them into rational and positive views of themselves and the world. Beck's cognitive therapy, which is often used in cases of depression, encourages clients to challenge negative thoughts, and change them into more constructive ones. Clients are helped to recognise errors in thinking and encouraged to correct them. Beck claims that this will change their emotions and behaviour and, in many cases, lift their depression. The cognitive model - evaluation Successful treatment Research indicates that Beck's cognitive therapy is as successful as antidepressant drugs in treating depression (Hollon & Beck, 1994). This, in itself, provides support for the cognitive model. Cause and effect The cognitive model has been criticised for seeing thoughts as the cause of psychological disorders. Critics argue that because people with depression tend to see the world in negative terms, then negative thinking is a consequence of their depression rather than its cause. However, as the provisional results of the Temple-Wisconsin study indicate, negative thinking, in and of itself, appears to make people more vulnerable to depression. Origins of cognitive errors The cognitive model has been criticised for failing to explain where negative thoughts come from in the first place. However, Beck argues that experiences in childhood and adolescence, such as loss of a ( Summary 1 The cognitive model assumes that people's thoughts direct their emotions and behaviour. Cognitive errors and negative thoughts can affect mood and behaviour, and can lead to psychological disorders. Therapy involves the correction of cognitive errors and the translation of negative thoughts into positive thoughts.
Page 1 and 2: Introduction The last chapter looke
Page 3 and 4: Models of abnormality Kraepelin (18
Page 5 and 6: - M Models of abnormality diathesis
Page 7 and 8: Models of abnormality ( Unit 3 The
Page 9 and 10: Models of abnormality John Bowlby's
Page 11 and 12: The psychodynamic model The psyche
Page 13 and 14: odels of abnormality This often inv
Page 15: Unit 5 The humanistic model of abno
Page 19 and 20: syndromes - psychological disorders
Page 21: c American Psychiatric Association

Ch 11 - Jeff Standen

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