PSYCHOTHERAPY

1. behavior therapy: therapy that applies different learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors.

1.1. counter conditioning: behavior therapy technique that conditions new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviors, based on classical conditioning.

1.2. systematic desensitization: a type of counterconditioning that associates a pleasant and relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli.

1.3. exposure therapy: behavior therapy technique that treats people's anxieties by exposing them to their fears.

1.4. virtual reality exposure: an anxiety treatment that progressively exposes people to simulations of their greatest fears, such as airplane flying, spiders, or public speaking.

2. biomedical therapy: Prescribed medications or medical procedures that act directly on the patient's nervous system.

2.1. psychosurgery: surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior.

2.2. lobotomy: a rare psychosurgical procedure used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients. The procedure cut the nerves that connect the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain.

2.3. electroconvulsive therapy: a bio-medical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient.

3. psychoanalysis: Freud's therapy technique that treats mental disorders by looking into the conscious and unconscious interactions.

3.1. resistance: the process of blocking from consciousness of anxiety laden material. (patient is unconsciously hiding memories from their conscious mind.)

3.2. interpretation: the analyst noting possible dream meanings, resistances, and/or other behaviors.

3.3. transference: the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent)

3.4. active listening: a communication technique used in therapy or counseling. it involves the analyst/ listener to fully concentrate and listen, respond, and remember what the patient said.

4. cognitive therapy: a type of psychotherapy where negative thoughts about one's self or about the world are analyzed in order to change unwanted behavioral patterns or mood disorders