AP Psychology

CHAPTER

17

Treatment of Psychological

Disorders

IN THIS CHAPTER

Summary:If a close friend or family member were experiencing severe

anxiety that interfered with his everyday life, what credentials would you want

a therapist for him/her to have?

This chapter focuses on mental health practitioners, their theoretical

approaches, and how they deliver their services.

Key Ideas

✪Mental health practitioners

✪Brief history of therapy

✪Insight therapies—psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, humanistic

✪Behavioral approaches

✪Cognitive-behavioral approaches

✪Biological treatments

✪Modes of therapy

✪Community and preventive approaches

Mental Health Practitioners

•A psychiatristis a medical doctor (M.D.) and the only mental health professional who

can prescribe medication (in most regions) or perform surgery. Psychiatrists generally

take a biological approach to treating major disorders such as schizophrenia and

depression. Their medical training includes an approved residency in a psychiatric

section of a hospital. Psychiatrists are not required to take courses dealing with insight,

psychoanalytic, behavioral, cognitive, or humanistic therapeutic approaches.

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KEY IDEA

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