Attribution Retraining  -  A form of cognitive therapy that attempts to reshape distorted cause-and- effect relationships and to teach the individual alternative, new methods in cause perception.

Behavioral therapy  -  A treatment approach that focuses on observable behavior and emphasizes learning theories, such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

Biomedical  -  One approach to conceptualizing abnormal behavior that emphasizes biological causes and, therefore, biological treatments, of mental disorders.

Catharsis  -  In various forms of psychodynamic theory, the release by which relief from unexpressed conflicts is presumably brought to the patient.

Cingulotomy  -  A modern form of psychosurgery, proven effective for severe forms of obsessive-compulsive disorder, that involves the destruction of axons that connect the pre- frontal and cingulate cortex with the limbic cortex of the temporal lobe.

Client-Centered Therapy  -  Pioneered by Carl Rogers, a form of humanistic therapy that stresses the client's responsibility to solve his or her own problems while the therapist simply provides a warm, genuine, and supportive atmosphere.

Cognitive Therapy  -  Psychotherapy technique emphasizing that abnormal behaviors result from distortions in cognition

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)  -  A combination of techniques used in both cognitive therapy and behavior therapy.

Contingency Learning  -  A form of operant conditioning wherein there is an attempt to change the relationship between a behavior and its consequences by directly changing the rewards and punishment in order to increase desired behavior and decrease undesired behavior.

Defense Mechanisms  -  Unconscious processes that protect the ego by distorting anxiety-producing memories, impulses, and emotions.

Electro-Convulsive Therapy (ECT)  -  A technique proven especially effective for severe forms of depression that involves the deliberate induction of a convulsion by passing electrical shocks through the brain.

Ego Analysis  -  A variation on Freudian psychoanalysis more concerned with the client's relationship with the external world. Ego analysis therefore places more emphasis on the role that the ego, and not the id, plays in developing conflicts.

Flooding  -  A technique used in behavioral therapy, proven to be especially effective in treating phobias, wherein the individual is exposed to the feared stimulus at full intensity.

Free Association  -  Form of talk-therapy, originated by Freud, wherein insight into the unconscious is gained by allowing the patient to talk freely about anything that crosses his or her mind.

Gestalt Therapy  -  Form of humanistic therapy that emphasizes living in the present and expressing genuine affective awareness.

Humanistic Therapy  -  Form of therapy that stresses each individual's basic human ability to make his or her own choices and to act upon them.

Hypnosis  -  An altered state of consciousness during which the individual under hypnosis is particularly susceptible to suggestion.

Insight-Oriented Therapies  -  Therapies, such as psychodynamic, in which bringing to the patient insight or self-understanding concerning the nature and possible causes of the disorder is the ultimate goal.

Interpretation  -  A tool of psychotherapy wherein the therapist suggests meanings of past and present events in the patient's life.

in vivo desensitization  -  A technique used in behavioral therapy wherein the individual is gradually exposed to the feared stimuli in real life while utilizing relaxation techniques.

Naturalistic/Scientific Tradition  -  A traditional view of treatment, pioneered by Hippocrates, which recommended such procedures as rest, exercise, and a healthy diet as cures of mental disorders.

Neurosis  -  A term referring to several types of disorders of which anxiety is the chief defining characteristic. This term was originally associated with a psychoanalytic theory stating that neurotic disorders were the result of the ego's inability to control anxiety produced from unconscious conflicts.

Non-directive Therapy  -  A technique used in client-centered therapy wherein the client directs him- or herself toward solving his or her own problems, and thus the therapist avoids directing the therapeutic process.

Pre-Frontal Lobotomy  -  No longer in practice, a form of psychosurgery in which the prefrontal lobes of the brain's cortex are severed from the rest of the brain.

Psychoactive Drugs  -  Any drug, such as caffeine or alcohol, which affects an individual's psychological state.

Psychoanalysis  -  Freudian theory emphasizing that psychological difficulties and abnormal behavior result from unconscious conflicts and motivations, and that psychoanalysis is the preferred form of psychotherapy since it is able to bring insight to these hidden conflicts.

Psychodynamic  -  Variation on Freudian theory that still emphasizes the search for unconscious conflicts and motivations, but does not adhere literally to all principles of psychoanalysis.

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy  -  An insight-oriented form of psychotherapy that, like psychoanalysis, attempts to uncover unconscious conflicts and motivations, but the therapist plays a more engaged, active role. It also follows a shorter course of treatment than psychoanalysis.

Psychopharmacology  -  The study of both the effects of psychoactive drugs on behavior and the use of drugs in the treatment of mental disorders.

Psychosis  -  A term referring to several types of mental disorders wherein the individual is out of contact with reality, such as schizophrenia.

Psychosurgery  -  The surgical destruction of specific regions of the brain.

Psychotherapy  -  Any form of treatment conducted by a trained therapist that uses psychological rather than physiological means to treat mental disorders.

Rational-Emotive Therapy  -  Developed by Albert Ellis as a treatment for depression and anxiety, a form of cognitive behavior therapy that attempts to challenge and reshape irrational beliefs held by the patient concerning the self and the world.

Self-Instruction Training  -  A technique of cognitive behavior therapy, involving such techniques as modeling, that attempts to teach children self- control.

Social Skills Training  -  A form of behavioral therapy wherein patients are taught new skills that are desirable and likely to be rewarded.

Spiritual/Religious Tradition  -  A traditional view of treatment characterized by the premise that supernatural forces are believed to be the cause of mental disorders.

Systematic Desensitization  -  A technique used in behavioral therapy, proven to be especially effective in treating phobias, wherein the patient gradually confronts his or her fears through his or her imagination while utilizing relaxation techniques.

Tabula Rasa  -  "Blank slate." The application of the philosopher Descartes' term to Freudian psychoanalytic theory to describe the role of the therapist in the process of psychoanalysis.

Token Economy  -  A specific type of contingency training wherein desired behaviors are rewarded and undesired behaviors are punished according to the ruless of an established system of economy.

Transference  -  Generally, in psychotherapy, this term used to describe the feeling of the client towards the therapist. In psychoanalytic theory, transference is the process by which the means of gaining insight into the unconscious begins, wherein the client transfers feelings concerning a key individual in his or her life onto the therapist.

Trephining  -  A primitive procedure that involved cracking a hole in the skull of the sufferer presumably so that the evil force causing the problem could escape. This serves as a good example of the primitive methods of the spiritual/religious method of treatment.

Unconditional Positive Regard  -  A technique used in client-centered therapy wherein the therapist demonstrates respect for his or her clients by valuing them for who they are and refraining from judging them.