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Historyand Systems of Psychology PSY502

Lesson 38

MODERNTRENDS IN PSYCHOLOGICALTREATMENT

Methods of psychological treatment have been varied throughout the history andhave evolved withthe

passage of time. As psychology moved from the science of speculation, perceived by great philosophers

such as Socrates, to the scientific study of human behavior, methods of treating psychological diseasesalso

havebeen adapted with the changing outlook. Differentschools of psychology focused on different aspects

of psychological problems andall developed their owntechniques and methods to get rid of these

problems.

Nowadays,according to the universally acceptedstandards, we can roughlydivide mental diseases intotwo

broad categories:

Lesssevere ones: Neurosis

Moresevere ones;Psychosis

It would be interesting to note thatover the world, there aretwo manuals available forclassification of

diseases,namely:

InternationalClassification of Diseases(ICD)

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual(DSM)

Theformer has been developed by the World Health Organization while the latter has been developed by

the American Psychiatrist Association.Psychologists from all over the world got together to develop these

manuals.These list all the knownmental diseases up to date.

Movingtowards the treatment of mental diseases, depending upon the nature of diseaseand the extent of

severity,two categories of treatmentshave emerged:

a) Psychologicalapproaches or methods of treatment

b) Biologicalapproaches or methods of treatment

Thepsychological method of treatment is the approach in which the patient is nottreated withmedicines.

Instead, the patient in this approach is treatedwith the help of psychological treatment, which means the

psychologiststry to find the root cause of the disease and then try to treat the patient by just listening and

talking about the problem or disease. In otherwords, the psychologist focuses on discovering the root cause

of the problem that the patientfaces and tries to eliminate the problem through just talking to the patient,

making him change his attitudeetc. In this technique, no medicine is given to the patient. It involves

methodssuch as psychotherapy. Methodssuch as group therapy, family therapy, etc. are also a part of this

mode of treatment.

In the biological approach, the patient is treated not only by listening and discussing the problembut also

throughmedicines. The psychiatristadvises/recommends some medicines. Usually the psychiatrist advises

medicineswhich help the patient to relax himself. In other words,biological approach focusesnot only on

solving the patient's problem through talkingand discussing; it alsoinvolves use of medicine forthe

treatment of mental diseases.

Let us delve deep into the twoapproaches towards the treatment of mental diseases.

a) Psychological Approaches

As mentioned earlier, the psychological approachfocuses on treatment of mental diseases by allowing the

patient to vent out what is creating the problem. It does not involve the use of medicine.

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Historyand Systems of Psychology PSY502

Psychologicalapproach may be dividedinto:

Psychodynamic methodologies

Behavioral methodologies

Cognitive methodologies

Humanistic methodologies

AndGroup methodologies of treatment

Let us take a look at some of them:

ThePsychodynamicmethodologies arebased upon the assumptionthat psychological problemsand

diseasesare caused by unconsciousimpulses and unresolved past conflicts. So Psychodynamic

psychotherapiststry to discover thoseunconscious motivations andhelp the patient resolve hispast

conflicts. Some times patient doesn'tknow the actual cause of hisdisease and thus gets mentally disturbed,

butsome times the patient knowsthat he or she had someunresolved past conflicts or somebad memories

whichare now disturbing him. So the Psychodynamic psychotherapists have to find the reason if the patient

don'tknow or is unable to relatehis past with hispresent problem.

Viewpoints of some famous psychologistsare important to be noted in this regards. These include Freud's,

Adler's,Jung's or Horney's viewpoints. Sigmund Freud gave the concept of unconsciousand motivations;

AlfredAdler gave the concept of inferiority feelings whichare caused due to organicinferiority and may

result in inferiority complex; Jung gave the concept of collective unconscious; KarenHorney related some

neurotic needs which every individualstrives for. Therefore, psychodynamic methodologies have evolved

over time with the contributions of manygreat psychologists.

Anotherapproach is called Behavioralapproach to treat mental diseases. This approachstems from the

behavioral school of psychology. It is based upon Pavlovian concept of conditioning.

In this regard, "Systematic Desensitization" is a method developed by Joseph Wolpe which is used to treat

somemental disorders. This method involves exposure of certainelements to the individual whichmay be

causingfear etc. For example,gradual exposure of snake to removes fear of snakes.

Thethird method that is employed in this category of treatment of mild mentaldiseases is what is termed as

Cognitivetherapy. Cognitive therapy is based upon the assumption that mentalproblems are caused by

faultythinking. The therapist corrects this faulty thinking, relieving the symptoms of the patient. Thepatient

in this kind of thinking assumesthat he is not good, or he cannot do something good, feels unconfidentand

feelsthat he/she is not being taking cared of. So the therapist try to remove this kind of thinking, from the

patient's mind to make him feel confident and being caredof. Albert Ellis used Rational Emotive Behavior

Therapy (REBT) under this method of treatment.