Page 527 - Understanding Psychology

Psychology Projects
1. What Is Psychotherapy? Attend an open meet- ing of one of the following self-help support groups: Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, Alateen, Smokenders, Narcotics Anonymous, Weight Watchers, or Overeaters Anonymous. Go with a classmate so that you can share your observations and experiences. Notice and report to the class on the ways in which the group pro- vides support for people.
2. Humanistic Therapies Research existential therapies and transactional analysis, which are two other types of client-centered therapies. What are the basic beliefs? Summarize your research and report your findings in an essay or brief presentation to the class.
3. Behavior Therapies Operant conditioning is based on the assumption that reinforced behav- ior tends to be repeated. Behavior therapy often involves a system of rewards called token economies. Propose a token economy that could be used in your school. Describe what rewards would be used and what behaviors they would reinforce.
4. Biological Approaches to Treatment Go to your local library or video store to find a movie that portrays mental illness. You might view One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest or Awakenings. Describe and classify some of the patients’ symptoms and the kinds of treatments that were administered. Describe the effectiveness of the treatments in a written report.
Assessment
30 25 20 15 10 5 0
Technology Activity
Search the Internet for sites that
provide online psychotherapy ser- vices. Find out what types of problems are gener- ally addressed in these sites. Report your findings in
a written report.
Psychology Journal
Reread the recommendations for treatment
that you wrote in your journal. How do the techniques you suggest resemble the therapies described in this chapter? Answer this question in your journal.
Building Skills
Interpreting a Graph Review the graph below, then answer the questions that follow.
1. What percentage of psychologists uses behav- ior therapies? Interpersonal therapies?
2. Which type of psychotherapy is used by the greatest percentage of psychologists? Why do you think this is so?
3. Psychodynamic therapy (or short-term dynamic psychotherapy) is an approach that is similar to psychoanalysis. Why do you think more thera- pists practice psychodynamic therapy rather than classical psychoanalysis?
4. How popular do you think biological approaches are? Why do you think so? Investigate this ques- tion and report your findings to the class.
Practice and assess key social
studies skills with Glencoe Skillbuilder Interactive Workbook CD-ROM, Level 2.
See the Skills Handbook, page 628, for an explanation of interpreting graphs.
Cognitive behavioral 45%
Psychodynamic 24%
Interpersonal
8%
7%
7% 6%
Other 3%
Source: Greenberg, Smith, and Muenzen, 1995.
Behavioral/ Social learning
Humanistic
Systems
Chapter 17 / Therapy and Change 513