Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

CHAPTER14Therapies“A Clear Senseof Being Heard . . .”PROLOGUEHOW WOULD WE DESCRIBE MARCIA? worrying and my anxiety and my feelings ofShe’s an extraordinarily kind, intelligent being a failure were not going to go awayon their own.woman. Her thoughtfulness and sensitivityare tempered by a ready laugh and a goodsense of humor. She’s happily married, hasa good job as a feature writer for a largesuburban newspaper, and has two youngchildren, who only occasionally drive hercrazy. If Marcia has a flaw, it’s that shetends to judge herself much too harshly.She’s too quick to blame herself when anythinggoes wrong.Juggling a full-time career, marriage, andparenting is a challenge for anyone, butMarcia always makes it look easy. The lasttime we had dinner at Bill and Marcia’shome, the meal featured homegrownvegetables, made-from-scratch bread, andfresh seasonings from the herb pots in thekitchen. Outwardly, Marcia appears to haveit all. But a few years ago, she began toexperience a pervasive sense of dread andunease—feelings that gradually escalatedinto a full-scale depression. Marcia describesthe onset of her feelings in this way:Physically I began to feel as if I were frayingaround the edges. I had a constant sense ofanxiety and a recurring sense of being afailure. My daughter, Maggie, was goingthrough a rather difficult stage. Andy wasstill a baby. I felt worn out. I started worryingconstantly about my children. Are they safe?Are they sick? What’s going to happen? Aremy kids going to get hurt? I knew that I reallydidn’t have any reason to worry thatmuch, but I did. It finally struck me that myMarcia decided to seek help. She madean appointment with her therapist, a psychiatristwhom Marcia had last seen 10 yearsearlier, when she had helped Marcia copewith a very difficult time in her life. Marciasummarizes her experience this way:How has therapy helped me? My feelings beforea therapy session may vary greatly, dependingon the issue under discussion. However,I always find the sessions cathartic and Iinvariably feel great relief. I feel a sense of beingunderstood by someone who knows mebut who is detached from me. I have a clearsense of being heard, as though my therapisthas given me a gift of listening and of allowingme to see myself as the worthwhile andcapable person I am. It is as though therapyallows me to see more clearly into a mirrorthat my problems have obscured.Over the course of several months,Marcia gradually began to feel better. Today,Marcia is calmer, more confident, and feelsmuch more in control of her emotions andher life. As Marcia’s mental health improved,so did her relationships with her childrenand her husband.Psychotherapy has also helped me communicatemore clearly. It has enabled me to becomemore resilient after some emotionalconflict. It has had a preventive effect in>Chapter Outline• Prologue: “A Clear Sense ofBeing Heard ...”• Introduction: Psychotherapyand Biomedical Therapy• Psychoanalytic Therapy• Humanistic Therapy• Behavior TherapyIN FOCUS: Using Virtual Realityto Conquer Phobias• Cognitive Therapies• Group and Family TherapyIN FOCUS: Self-Help Groups:Helping Yourself by HelpingOthers• Evaluating the Effectiveness ofPsychotherapySCIENCE VERSUS PSEUDOSCIENCE:EMDR: Can You Wave Your FearsAway?CULTURE AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR:Cultural Values andPsychotherapy• Biomedical TherapiesFOCUS ON NEUROSCIENCE:Comparing Psychotherapy andAntidepressant Medication• Closing ThoughtsENHANCING WELL-BEING WITHPSYCHOLOGY: What to Expect inPsychotherapy• Chapter Review579