CBT and Psychoanalysis

We looked at the final two therapies last Thursday - CBT (from the cognitive approach, with some behavioural ideas thrown in) and psychoanalysis, the therapy that Freud developed and which comes from the psychodynamic approach.

These are both 'talking therapies' and, along with behavioural therapies like systematic desensitisation, are 'psychological therapies' (meaning they are not biological / physical like drugs and ECT).

Unlike behavioural therapy (which aims to correct faulty behaviour with classical and operant conditioning) these both aim to correct problems with 'the mind' - that is, how we think. Make sure you can explain the key difference between them. CBT is based on conscious thoughts that we can think about and change ourselves once we understand their importance - it is based on practical strategies for changing the way we think about the current difficulties we face in our lives. Psychoanalysis assumes that the real causes of our current problems are hidden in our pasts and in our unconscious minds, and that we need the help of a therapist to uncover these.

Here is the presentation on CBT.

Here is the presentation on psychoanalysis.

For Tuesday's lesson you need to complete your notes on these, including strengths and limitations. Organise your notes for the whole abnormality topic, filling in any blanks, and revise for a test on Tuesday. I will post a  helpful document here later this weekend to help you prepare, but for now remember that you need to be able to describe and evaluate three definitions of abnormality (DSN, FFA, DIMH); four models of abnormality (biological, behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic; and five therapies (ECT, drugs, systematic desensitisation, CBT, psychoanalysis).