Abnormal Psychology and Therapy Essay Example for Free

Ab linguistic rule psychology and Therapy EssayTeresa Neal Abnormal psychology and Therapy Paper In a orbit where nothing seems to be considered normal anymore, psychology tries to draw the line between what it is and what is not. The different schools of perspective brace their own perspective on the definition, origin, and treatment of abnormal air and this paper will cover a few, trying to make it executable to have a clear difference between normal and abnormal psychology. Normal and Abnormal Psychology Specific alto blend inhery defining behavior as normal or abnormal is a contentious trim down in abnormal psychology. To try to distinguish between normal psychology and abnormal psychology, psychologists use trine criteria whatever is infrequent, maladaptive, and deviant from the cultural norm, falls under the category of abnormal behavior (Spoor, 1999). Mental health, excessively known as normal psychology, and mental illnesses and dis regularises, also known as ab normal psychology, have been define in many ways, but should always be viewed in the context of ethnocultural factors and influence because what is considered normal in near environments may be considered abnormal in others.A person with a normal behavior and mental processes has the ability to adapt and cope with adversity, has a correct perception of reality, accepts self, avoids victimize, and experiences continual psychological proceeds and development (Kowalski Westen, 2009). Abnormal psychology, on the other hand, is characterized by unusual patterns that some passel might fork over in their behavior, thought process, and expression of emotion, patterns that atomic number 18 associated with distress or disability and fundament cause harm and an unreasonable response to a particular situation.Mental Disorders Daily functions such as the ability to think, read, remember, plan, and visualize rely on an individuals cognitive skills (Medalia Revheim, 2002). Cognitive disorders are disorders of thinking or memory that signify an manifest change from the personal former level of functioning. In certain situations the exact origin of the disorder can be identified, other cases the cause is unclear.Even though these disorders are biologically founded, the environment and psychological factors bunk significant roles in shaping the effect and extent of disabling symptoms in addition to the personal condenser to deal with them. (Nevid, et a. 2008). The around common cognitive disorders are amnestic, delirium, and dementia disorders. Amnestic disorders are a cognitive impairment relating a failure to develop new memories and the failure to remember old memories.Delirium is a severe, and reversible state of mental disorder, which involves confusion, and the lack of ability to focus on information or the border environment. Individuals that suffer from delirium may suffer frightening hallucinations, particularly visual hallucinations. The loss of mem ory and intellectual usually associated with behavior and personality changes describes dementia disorders. Different forms of dementia exist, depending on the cause therefore some types of dementia may be reversed with treatment.For standard those cases that are caused by brain tumors. Dementia caused by the disease Alzheimers cannot be reversed (Nevid, et al. 2008). On a personal note these patients are difficult, they have to watch be continually as they can do harm to themselves and others. Mental Illnesses Although diagnoses of ADHD are based on behavioral symptoms of inattention and/or hyperactivity/impulsivity, evidence suggests that minorren with ADHD also depict eventful cognitive weaknesses in areas that are incumbent to daily functioning at home work and school. curiously research studies indicate that children with ADHD often have problems in Executive functions (for example, planning a project, retentiveness attentive to a task, ignoring irrelevant information) W orking memory (which is often considered an executive function) speed of information treat (children with ADHD process information more behindhandly than their peers) Many of these cognitive processes are often interrelated. For example problems in working memory can negatively affect other executive functions, or slow processing speed may lower an individuals ability to recall and organize information. ttp//www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/15499890 From the cognitive perspective, theorists suggest that a person diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorders suffer from impaired information-processing. The impairment is pre displace in be categories and boundaries that are maladaptive and result in an over-structuring of input but there is no evidence to show that this is the cause, rather than a consequence of OCD symptoms. Another cognitive theory suggests that OCD fear bodily structures are especially sundry(a) and a large number of stimuli can become associated with threat or danger.Passive avoidance of such a large number of stimulus associations can be extremely difficult and compulsions become necessary for the individual to feel safe. Although cognitive theories do provide insight into the outward aspect of OCD, they fail to all the way define how and why OCD and this cognitive impairment can arise. Similarities between the Schools of Thought There are rather a few similarities between the different schools of thought in treating mental disorders.All but the Psychodynamic therapies are short term usually lasting a year or less and most all therapies have the client or patient facing the therapist and are conversational. All therapies also go through to help the client or patient change behaviors or thought patterns that are causing problems of iodine and only(a) kind or another. Cognitive-Behavioral therapies help patients with behavior and cognitive problems. The therapist helps the patient focus on the ruffianly behavior and helps him or her find ways in which to address these behaviors and learn skills to change them.These therapies use a variety of techniques to help patients with phobias, social skills, accomplishing goals, anxiety disorders, and the like. Psychodynamic therapies both examine the patients thought patterns to get to the bottom of the undesired behavior or emotional responses. Humanistic therapies including Gestalt and Client-Centered therapies focus on the patients feelings and to experience themselves as they really are. Family, Marital, and Group therapies use free radical communication either one- on-one or in a group to help with problematic relationships and behaviors.Self-help groups are another type of group therapy that aims to help people either cope with undesired behavior, loss of a loved one, addictions, and disease. (Kowalski, 2009) The common thread here with most therapies, the approach is a warm relationship with the therapist who shows empathy for the patient or client an d giving him or her hope or efficacy in coping with their problem (Kowalski, 2009) Differences between the Schools of Thought While to each one school of thought has common factors in treatment methods, each school has developed different ways of addressing psychological problem.For instance, Psychodynamic therapies rely on two principles the role of insight and the role of the therapist-patient relationship (Kowalski Western, 2009). It is believed that in order for therapeutic change to occur, a person must understand his or her own psychological processes. When in therapy it is one on one the patient is either face to face with the therapist or fabrication on a couch with the therapist sitting behind them. Psychodynamic therapy emphasizes the notion that the patients problems stemmed from childhood.These problems follow the child into adulthood causing a conflict within new relationships. This transfer of emotion from past experiences is called transference, one of the techn iques psychotherapies rely on. The two main treatments, psychoanalysis and psychodynamic psychotherapy, are a long term process that focuses on developing awareness of these unconscious feelings. Psychodynamic therapy, like psychoanalysis, consists of three days a week over a long period of time. It is considered that patients who meet at least twice weekly benefit more than those who do not.Unlike psychodynamic therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy focuses on the persons life as it is now the current and conscious thought patterns and behavior. They are not concerned with exploring and fixing underlying personality patterns or unconscious processes (Kowalski Western,2009). The focus is on the present feelings and not the childhood experiences. Cognitive-based therapies are relatively short term and direct. Specific recommendations are do to bring about change in behavior.The sessions are well structured with questioning, and the patient usually is sent home with an assignment (M ote, 2011). While most cognitive behavioral techniques try to alter behavior, such as classical conditioning, cognitive therapy focuses on changing dysfunctional cognitions (Kowalski Western, 2009). These behaviors are automatic, and not unconscious. Therapy is a process of identifying and altering these automatic thoughts. Cognitive therapy techniques such as rational-emotional behavior therapy recognize the behaviors and works to mediate between the pioneer conditions and the emotional reactions.As each of the other therapies are more therapist-patient, Humanistic therapies focus on the world of the patient and qualities that make him or her unique (Mote, 2011). The therapy techniques that are used, Gestalt therapy and Rogers client centered therapy, are to begin with based on becoming aware of ones own emotions, values, and motivations to bring about change. With group therapy, the individuals are concentrated on the individual dynamics and their reactions in the group process . Family therapy is centered on the structure of the family, and the main roots of conflict in family interaction.