PSYCHOSOCIAL INTERVENTIONS

A. The Two Major Paradigms Reviewed
1. Insight versus learning
2. Is it necessary to focus on the root cause of the problem?
   a. The intrapsychic answer
   b. The behaviorist answer
3. Should the therapist be directive or non-directive?
   a. The intrapsychic answer
   b. The behaviorist answer
4. The evolution from insight-oriented to cognitive-behavioral approaches
   a. Questions about effectiveness
   b. Questions about time and expense
   c. Questions about who can benefit
      (1) Types of clients
      (2) Types of problems
   d. Questions about empirical research
      (1) Specifying the independent variables
      (2) Specifying the dependent variables
5. Eclectic psychotherapy
   a. “Eclectic” defined and psychotherapy as a generic term
   b. The common ingredients
      (1) Acceptance and support (TLC)
      (2) Information and advice
      (3) Self-awareness
      (4) Motivation to change and belief in the possibility
      (5) Learning and practicing new ways of thinking, feeling and behaving

B. Treating Disorders of Emotion and Mood
1. Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT)
2. Beck’s cognitive therapy (CT)
3. Ellis’s rational-emotive therapy (RET)
4. Lewinsohn’s reinforcement therapy
5. Behavior therapy methods
   a. Relaxation training
   b. Systematic desensitization
   c. Flooding
   d. Exposure with response prevention

C. Treating Stress and Health-related Disorders
1. Reexperiencing trauma
   a. Trauma desensitization
   b. The recovered memories controversy
2. Critical incident debriefing
3. Behavioral methods
   a. Stress management training
   b. Stress inoculation training
   c. Biofeedback
4. Therapies for sexual dysfunction
   a. Sensate focus and surrogate therapy
   b. Couples approaches
5. Eliminating secondary gain
6. Behavioral medicine and health psychology

D. Treating Disorders of Motivation and Behavior
1. Motivational counseling
2. Behavioral methods
   a. Aversion therapy
   b. Behavioral contracting
   c. Community reinforcement
3. Relapse prevention and harm reduction methods
4. The controlled-drinking debate
5. Couples and family approaches
6. Group approaches
   a. Therapy groups
   b. Twelve-step programs

E. Treating Psychotic Disorders
1. Social skills and ADL training
2. Milieu therapy
3. Fostering medication compliance
4. Token economies
5. Family methods
   a. Psychoeducation
   b. Expressed emotion

F. Treating Personality Disorders
1. Are they treatable?
2. Long-term, intensive, insight-oriented psychotherapy
3. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) with borderline personality disorder
4. Punishment and antisocial personality disorder
5. Crisis intervention techniques

G. Treating Developmental Disorders
1. IPT and CBT in the treatment of eating disorders
2. Systems approaches to childhood behavior problems
   a. Family therapies
   b. Behavioral family therapy
   c. Multisystemic approaches
3. Residential programs
   a. Token economies
   b. Milieu therapy
4. Training and rehabilitation programs for PDD and MR

Copyright ©1998 Beverly J. Volicer and Steven F. Tello, UMass Lowell.  You may freely edit these pages for use in a non-profit, educational setting.  Please include this copyright notice on all pages.