Term
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Definition
| Original complaint reported by the client to the therapist. The actual treated problem may be a modification derived from the presenting problem. |
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Term
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Definition
| Number of people displaying a disorder in the total population at any given time (compare with incidence). |
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Term
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Definition
| Number of new cases of a disorder appearing during a specific period (compare with prevalence). |
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Term
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Definition
| Predicted development of a disorder over time. |
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Term
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Definition
| Pattern of development and change of a disorder over time. |
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Term
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Definition
| Cause or source of a disorder. |
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Term
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Definition
| Mental health professional expected to apply scientific methods to his or her work. A scientist–practitioner must know the latest research on diagnosis and treatment, must evaluate his or her methods for effectiveness, and may generate research to discover information about disorders and their treatment. |
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Term
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Definition
| Scientific study of psychological disorders. |
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Term
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Definition
| Psychosocial approach in the 19th century that involved treating patients as normally aspossible in normal environments. |
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Term
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Definition
| Complex and comprehensive theory originally advanced by Sigmund Freud that seeks to account for the development and structure of personality, as well as the origin of abnormal behavior, based primarily on inferred inner entities and forces. |
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Term
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Definition
| Explanation of human behavior, including dysfunction, based on principles of learning and adaptation derived from experimental psychology. |
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Term
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Definition
| Degree to which research findings have useful and meaningful applications to real problems. |
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Term
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Definition
| Array of therapeutic methods based on the principles of behavioral and cognitive science, as well as principles of learning as applied to clinical problems. It considers specific behaviors rather than inferred conflicts as legitimate targets for change. |
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Term
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Definition
| Psychoanalytic theory that emphasizes the role of the ego in development and attributes psychological disorders to failure of the ego to manage impulses and internal conflicts. Also known as self-psychology. |
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Term
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Definition
| Modern development in psychodynamic theory involving the study of how children incorporate the memories and values of people who are close and important to them. |
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Term
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Definition
| Therapy method in which the client, rather than the counselor, primarily directs the course of discussion, seeking self-discovery and self-responsibility. |
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Term
| psychodynamic psychotherapy |
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Definition
| Contemporary version of psychoanalysis that still emphasizes unconscious processes and conflicts but is briefer and more focused on specific problems. |
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Term
| systematic desensitization |
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Definition
| Behavioral therapy technique to diminish excessive fears, involving gradual exposure to the feared stimulus paired with a positive coping experience, usually relaxation |
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Term
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Definition
| Details of the combination of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings of an individual that make up a particular disorder. |
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Term
| mulitidimensional-Integrative approach |
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Definition
| Approach to the study of psychopathology that holds psychological disorders are always the products of multiple interacting causal factors. |
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Term
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Definition
| Chemical that crosses the synaptic cleft between nerve cells to transmit impulses from one neuron to the next. Relative excess or deficiency of neurotransmitters is involved in several psychological disorders. |
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Term
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Definition
| Hypothesis that both an inherited tendency (a vulnerability) and specific stressful conditions are required to produce a disorder. |
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Term
| reciprocal gene-environment theory |
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Definition
| Hypothesis that people with a genetic predisposition for a disorder may also have a genetic tendency to create environmental risk factors that promote the disorder. |
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Term
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Definition
| Neurotransmitter that reduces activity across the synaptic cleft and thus inhibits a range of behaviors and emotions, especially generalized anxiety. |
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Term
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Definition
| Systematic evaluation and measurement of psychological, biological, and social factors in a person presenting with a possible psychological disorder. |
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Term
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Definition
| Sophisticated computer-aided procedure that allows nonintrusive examination of nervous system structure and function. |
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Term
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Definition
| Relatively coarse preliminary test of a client's judgment, orientation to time and place, and emotional and mental state; typically conducted during an initial interview. |
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Term
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Definition
| Ethical requirement whereby research subjects agree to participate in a study only after they receive full disclosure about the nature of the study and their own role in it. |
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Term
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Definition
| Neurotransmitter involved in processing of information and coordination of movement, as well as inhibition and restraint. It also assists in the regulation of eating, sexual, and aggressive behaviors, all of which may be involved in different psychological disorders. Its interaction with dopamine is implicated in schizophrenia. |
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Term
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Definition
| Neurotransmitter whose generalized function is to activate other neurotransmitters and to aid in exploratory and pleasure-seeking behaviors (thus balancing serotonin). A relative excess of dopamine is implicated in schizophrenia (although contradictory evidence suggests the connection is not simple), and its deficit is involved in Parkinson's disease. |
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Term
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Definition
| Neurotransmitter active in the central and peripheral nervous systems, controlling heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration, among other functions. Because of its role in the body's alarm reaction, it may also contribute generally and indirectly to panic attacks and other disorders. Also known as noradrenaline |
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Term
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Definition
| Ability adaptive for evolution, allowing certain associations to be learned more readily than others. |
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Term
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Definition
| Condition of memory in which a person cannot recall past events despite acting in response to them. |
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Term
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Definition
| Learning through observation and imitation of the behavior of other individuals and consequences of that behavior. |
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Term
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Definition
| Measuring, observing, and systematically evaluating (rather than inferring) the client's thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the actual problem situation or context. |
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Term
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Definition
| Martin Seligman's theory that people become anxious and depressed when they make an attribution that they have no control over the stress in their lives (whether or not they actually have control). |
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Term
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Definition
| Field of study that examines how humans and other animals acquire, process, store, and retrieve information. |
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Term
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Definition
| Pattern of action elicited by an external event and a feeling state, accompanied by a characteristic physiological response. |
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Term
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Definition
| Conscious, subjective aspect of an emotion that accompanies an action at a given time. |
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Term
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Definition
| Biological reaction to alarming stressors that musters the body's resources (for example, blood flow and respiration) to resist or flee a threat. |
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Term
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Definition
| Enduring period of emotionality. |
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Term
| mulitdimensional integrative approach to understanding psychopathology |
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Definition
| Approach to the study of psychopathology that holds psychological disorders are always the products of multiple interacting causal factors. |
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Term
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Definition
| used by clinicians and psychiatrists to diagnose psychiatric illnesses |
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Term
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Definition
| Extent to which research results apply to a range of individuals not included in the study. |
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Term
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Definition
| Presence of two or more disorders in an individual at the same time. |
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Term
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Definition
| Psychopathology research method examining the prevalence, distribution, and consequences of disorders in populations. |
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Term
| psychophysiological assessment |
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Definition
| Measurement of changes in the nervous system reflecting psychological or emotional events such as anxiety, stress, and sexual arousal. |
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Term
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Definition
| Mood state characterized by marked negative affect and bodily symptoms of tension in which a person apprehensively anticipates future danger or misfortune. Anxiety may involve feelings, behaviors, and physiological responses. |
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Term
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Definition
| Emotion of an immediate alarm reaction to present danger or lifethreatening emergencies. |
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Term
| panic disorder with agoraphobia |
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Definition
| Fear and avoidance of situations the person believes might induce a dreaded panic attack. |
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Term
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Definition
| Abrupt experience of intense fear or discomfort accompanied by several physical symptoms, such as dizziness or heart palpitations. |
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Term
| generalized anxienty disorder |
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Definition
| Anxiety disorder characterized by intense, uncontrollable, unfocused, chronic, and continuous worry that is distressing and unproductive, accompanied by physical symptoms of tenseness, irritability, and restlessness. Genes may play a role and stress may also contribute to the development. Anyone can develop this disorder, more women than men usually develop it. Can develop whenever. A combination of medicine and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) works best. |
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Term
| brain circuits (under biological contributions) |
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Definition
| Neurotransmitter current or neural pathway in the brain. |
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Term
| stress(social contributions) |
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Definition
| Body's physiological response to a stressor, which is any event or change that requires adaptation. |
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Term
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Definition
| Anxiety about being in places or situations from which escape might be difficult. |
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Term
| obsessive-compulsive disorder |
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Definition
| A cluster C (anxious or fearful) personality disorder featuring a pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control at the expense of flexibility, openness, and efficiency. |
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Term
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Definition
| Repetitive, ritualistic, time-consuming behavior or mental act a person feels driven to perform. |
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Term
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Definition
| Excessive, enduring fear in some children that harm will come to them or their parents while they are apart. |
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Term
| blood-injury-injection phobia |
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Definition
| Unreasonable fear and avoidance of exposure to blood, injury, or the possibility of an injection. Victims experience fainting and a drop in blood pressure. |
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Term
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Definition
| Unreasonable, enduring fear of animals or insects that usually develops early in life. |
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Term
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Definition
| Extreme, enduring, irrational fear and avoidance of social or performance situations. |
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Term
| natural environment phobia |
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Definition
| ear of situations or events in nature, especially heights, storms, and water. |
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Term
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Definition
| Severe reaction immediately following a terrifying event, often including amnesia about the event, emotional numbing, and derealization. Many victims later develop posttraumatic stress disorder |
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Term
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Definition
| Delayed-onset PTSD describes a situation where a person does not develop a PTSD diagnosis until at least six months after a traumatic event. In some cases, the delayed onset of PTSD can be even longer. |
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Term
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Definition
| Enduring, distressing emotional disorder that follows exposure to a severe helplessness- or fearinducing threat. The victim reexperiences the trauma, avoids stimuli associated with it, and develops a numbing of responsiveness and an increased vigilance and arousal. |
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Term
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Definition
| Severe reaction immediately following a terrifying event, often including amnesia about the event, emotional numbing, and derealization. Many victims later develop posttraumatic stress disorder. |
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Term
| panic disorder without agoraphobia |
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Definition
| Panic attacks experienced without development of agoraphobia. |
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Term
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Definition
| Nonexistent physical or psychological disorder deliberately faked for no apparent gain except, possibly, sympathy and attention. |
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Term
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Definition
| Somatoform disorder featuring true pain but for which psychological factors play an important role in onset, severity, or maintenance. |
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Term
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Definition
| Somatoform disorder involving severe anxiety over belief in having a disease process without any evident physical cause. |
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Term
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Definition
| Somatoform disorder involving extreme and long-lasting focus on multiple physical symptoms for which no medical cause is evident. |
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Term
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Definition
| Physical malfunctioning, such as blindness or paralysis, suggesting neurological impairment but with no organic pathology to account for it. |
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Term
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Definition
| Somatoform disorder featuring a disruptive preoccupation with some imagined defect in appearance (“imagined ugliness”). |
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Term
| munchausen syndrome by proxy |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Dissociative disorder featuring sudden, unexpected travel away from home, along with an inability to recall the past, sometimes with assumption of a new identity. |
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Term
| depersonalization disorder |
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Definition
| Dissociative disorder in which feelings of depersonalization are so severe they dominate the individual's life and prevent normal functioning. |
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Term
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Definition
| Loss of memory of all personal information, including identity |
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Term
| dissociative identity disorder |
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Definition
| Disorder in which as many as 100 personalities or fragments of personalities coexist within one body and mind. Formerly known as multiple personality disorder. |
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Term
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Definition
| Memory loss limited to specific times and events, particularly traumatic events. |
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