Glossary of Psychology Terms

Anxiety is thought to be the most troubling of human emotions according to Rollo May.  It is a state of ongoing, gnawing agitation and restlessness, usually accompanied by a churning feeling in the stomach, tight muscles, sweaty palms, shallow breathing and feelings of light-headedness.  Anxiety is different from fear in that it usually originates from an inner conflict that the person may not be consciously aware of and therefore is not easily resolved.  Anxiety can leave a person feeling immobilised and useless.  Fear on the other hand is directed at a specific object such as an oncoming car and is useful because it mobilises a person to take immediate action: eg, getting out of the way.  Action based on fear is sometimes described as "fight or flight".

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that involves addressing a person's problematic thinking styles and behaviour.  Given that the way we think can have a large influence on our mood, a CBT therapist will challenge dysfunctional thinking styles and encourage you to think in more producting and functional ways.  Similarly behaviour is challenged so as to bring about the change you desire.  Therapy typically involves quite a lot of reading and written homework such as completing thought diaries and behaviour monitoring sheets.  CBT is a useful but sometimes limited therapy because changing thinking doesn't always change how a person feels.  Other therapies aimed at regulating emotion may be used to augment the effectiveness of CBT.

Depression is characterised by a heavy, lifeless feeling in which a person feels very little energy or motivation to do anything at all.  Feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness and guilt are aspects of depression and can become as severe as feeling suicidal.  Depressed people can have difficulty crying or feeling any other emotions at all.  Loss of interest in pleasurable activities and sex, disturbance in sleep or appetite are also common.  Some symptoms of depression may overlap with symptoms of anxiety and quite often people have a mixture of both.  Depression usually involves a repression of feelings, quite often anger, that can be turned against the self in quite destructive ways.  Treatment involves helping the afflicted person to reconnect with feelings and express them in appropriate ways.

Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is a type of therapy developed by Gary Craig that aims to help people overcome their anxieties and other difficulties in a short period of time.  It is an "East-meets-West" amalgam: a combination of accupuncture but without the needles and traditional talk-type therapy.  The process involves tapping on a sequence of accupressure points while focussing on a specific problem so as to dissipate the negative emotions surrounding an event.  It is a highly effective technique, easy to learn and use on all sorts of issues.  For more information see www.eftdownunder.com.au. 

Hakomi is a type of therapy that was initially developed by Ron Kurtz and his associates in the 1970's in the USA and continues to evolve.  The word itself is a Hopi Indian word meaning "where do I stand in relation to all these realms".  It is a body-centred psychotherapy which means that the emphasis is on how our experience and our emotions get stored in the body and can be accessed extremely effectively by focusing on physical sensations.  Hakomi emphasises self-study because self-awareness is the most potent healing force there is.  It is a particularly gentle and respectful kind of psychotherapy and it relies on 5 principles: Mindfulness, Organicity, Mind-Body Holism, Non-Violence and Unity.  More detailed information can be found on the Hakomi website:  www.hakomi.com.au.

A personality disorder is characterised by long term, rigid patterns of thinking and behaviour that create problems in daily living, relationships and ability to function in the world.  Distressing symptoms can include depression, anxiety, overwhelming emotion, short term volatile and intense relationships, self harm or suicidal gestures, aggressiveness, impulsivity, drug and alcohol use and other distressing symptoms.  Because personality characteristics develop in childhood and are a stable feature of the person, they typically take a long time to treat, often 2 years or more.  A combination of individual and group therapy work very well to help alleviate the distress of afflicted persons.

Psychology is the study of human behaviour.  Psychologists aim to predict, then help change problematic behaviours of individuals, groups or organisations.  Psychology is a vast discipline and covers many different areas such as Clinical (the application of psychology to mental health problems), Sports, Organisational, Educational and Community, to name but a few.  The science of psychology is not a medical science, therefore psychologists cannot prescribe drugs, which is the province of psychiatrists who are medically trained.  However in some parts of the USA, the discipline of psychology is experimenting with training psychologists in pharmacology so that they can prescribe drugs for common mental health problems.

The term "therapy" encompasses a myriad of different interventions aimed at helping people deal with mental health difficulties.  Therapy is an active and directed process that aims to change problematic emotions, thinking and behaviour whereas counselling aims to provide a supportive environment in which a person can explore their issues and make the changes they see as necessary.  Therapists often require more training than counsellors because the assessments interventions they use are more complex.  Other terms for therapy are psychotherapy, psychological therapy and treatment.  Other terms for therapist are psychotherapists, clinical psychologists, psychologists and clinician.

A trauma is what happens when faced with an overwhelmingly distressing event that exceeds the person's resources to cope with what is happening.  The resultant traumatic symptoms are a normal response to an abnormal event.  Post-Traumatic-Stress Disorder can develop if the trauma is left untreated and the symptoms persist for months, even years.  Symptoms of this disorder are anxiety based and involve having nightmares and flashbacks of the event, high anxiety triggered by stimuli that remind the person of the event, avoidance of reminders and quite often loss of trust in relationships and chaotic attachment to others.  Symptoms of trauma can underlie clinical depression, mood and anxiety disorders.