Psychology2016

Psychological Therapies 589

of one’s motives and actions is called insight, therapies aimed mainly at this goal are called
insight therapies. A therapy that is directed more at changing behavior than providing
insights into the reasons for that behavior is called action therapy. Many psychological
professionals use a combination of insight and action therapeutic* methods.
The other main type of therapy uses some biological treatment in the form
of a medical procedure to bring about changes in the person’s disordered behavior.
Biomedical therapies include the use of drugs, surgical methods, electric shock treat-
ments, and noninvasive stimulation techniques. It is important to understand that
biomedical therapy often eliminates or alleviates the symptoms of a disorder, while psy-
chotherapy addresses issues associated with the disorder, and when used together, these
two types of therapy facilitate** each other (Maxmen et al., 2009). For example, when
medications are needed, individuals taking the proper medications are going to benefit
more from psychotherapy, as their symptoms will be better controlled. Furthermore, psy-
chotherapy, not medication, is going to help them better understand what the symptoms
of their disorder are and facilitate adjustment, other coping strategies, and proactive
ways of addressing the disorder or its related outcomes (Maxmen et al., 2009).
The National Institute of Mental Health’s (NIMH) Research Domain Criteria
(RDoC) project was introduced in Chapter 14. to Learning Objective 14.3. Goals
of the RDoC project are consistent with attempts to classify psychological disorders along
dimensions of brain, cognitive, and behavioral functioning. Instead of simply identifying
someone with depression as having a “mental disorder,” a psychological professional
might be able to better understand the respective cluster of symptoms and features as a
subset of disrupted functions and be better able to identify more effective treatment strat-
egies (Insel & Cuthbert, 2015). There are also attempts to identify common factors that
bridge a variety of diagnoses. Such “transdiagnostic” factors may include internalizing
versus externalizing types of symptoms or brain areas shared by a variety of disorders
(Goodkind et al., 2015; Krueger & Eaton, 2015). Overall, these approaches have a lot of
potential to improve both diagnostic and treatment approaches in the future.

insight therapies

therapies in which the main goal is

helping people to gain insight with

respect to their behavior, thoughts,

and feelings.

action therapy

therapy in which the main goal is to

change disordered or inappropriate

behavior directly.

biomedical therapies

therapies that directly affect the bio-

logical functioning of the body and

brain; therapies for mental disorders

in which a person with a problem

is treated with biological or medical

methods to relieve symptoms.

*therapeutic: providing or assisting in a cure.
**facilitate: to assist, make possible, or make easier.

psychotherapy: based on psychological techniques,

individuals talk about their problems and the therapist

assists them in understanding and changing behavior

biomedical therapy: uses medical interventions

to bring symptoms under control

modern treatments

historically, psychological or social causes identified for some disorders; for others,

individuals with mental illness were believed to be possessed by demons or evil spirits

organized treatment began in England around the middle 1500s

Pinel started the “moral treatment” movement in France

early interventions

insight therapies

action therapies

Treatment of Psychological Disorders

Concept Map L.O. 15.1

Interactive

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