Describe and Evaluate Two Approaches free essay sample

One proposed theory that answers this question is the Freudian argument, which states â€Å"people have an innate death drive that impels them to pursue their own downfall and death†2. This argument also concludes that people do harm themselves deliberately, even though they sometimes are not conscious of this. â€Å"Self-defeating behaviours are especially common when people feel that others view them less favourably than the people desire†1 Psychologists have constructed three models that explain different types of self-defeating behaviours, which are â€Å"distinguished by their varying degrees of intentionality†1 Three Models of Self-Destructiveness There are three models that represent self-defeating behaviours on the basis of â€Å"intentionality. †1 1. Primary self-destruction This model includes those human beings who deliberately and intentionally hurt themselves. Those in this group, usually intentionally choose an action that they know will bring harm to them. For Example masochism 2. The second conceptual model of self-defeating behaviour is called, â€Å"trade-off†1. This behaviour is done when a person knowingly makes a trade-off in a situation. It is when a person chooses a certain option that has some benefit but also has the potential to cause harm to the person as well. For Example When a person chooses to take up smoking. In a trade-off, the smoking harm to the self is accepted as a necessary accompaniment to achieving some other goal. In this trade-off model, the individual has multiple goals and desires, but the situation sets two of them in opposition. One type of trade-off is known as, â€Å"self-handicapping†1. (e. g. – health) In the trade-off, people will deliberately choose to do something that they know will harm them, so that if they fail later they are able to blame their failure on the bad choice they previously made. . The third are the counterproductive strategies. Self-defeating behaviours in which â€Å"the person neither desires nor foresees the harm to self. In this instance a person is pursuing a desirable outcome but chooses a strategy or approach that backfires and produces the opposite of the desired result. Thus, the person is pursuing a positive goal, but the person’s method of pursuing is negative. â € 1 For Example This type of behaviour is very common among young adults and usually results in some kind of â€Å"self-harmful outcomes†1. Reasons for Self-Defeating Behaviour People are more likely to behave in a self-defeating or destructive manner when either there are threats made to their ego, or when they have low self-esteem. When a person has a low self-esteem, they are more likely to be susceptible to having depression, anxiety and, emotional distress, which are problems that are usually directly related to a less favourable self-appraisal. â€Å"Emotional stress has also had a link to self-defeating behaviour. Anecdotal observations have long suggested that highly distraught people are more likely than others to do self destructive things. 3 Also, self-regulation failure is yet another supposed cause of self-defeating behaviours. Our self-regulation is related mostly to one’s self-control. Self-regulation allows a person to prepare herself to a certain situation and adapt to that situation. With self-regulation a person can either make sure they succeed, or fail in a certain situation. â€Å"Self regulation is presumably one of the major capacities that the human self has evolved in order to help bring about positive outcomes. When the self brings about negative outcomes, therefore, one could readily suspect that self-regulation has failed in some crucial way. Ultimately, self-defeating behaviour may often result from the failure of the self to regulate its behaviours properly†3 Why beat yourself up†¦? Experiments have proved, and psychologists have shown, that regular people do in fact perform behaviours that can be self-detrimental. The three models of self-destructiveness illustrate the different ways in which a person behaves in a self-defeating way, depending on each person’s level of â€Å"intentionality† to harm oneself. Human beings are more likely to behave in more self- defeating ways depending different circumstances, such as a person’s mental health. If a person is depressed or anxious then that person is more likely to behave in a self-destructive way than a person would if they were mentally healthy. Another important factor that contributes to self-destructive behaviour is seclusion. A â€Å"strong feeling of social inclusion is important for enabling the individual to use the human capacity for self-regulation in ways that will preserve and protect the self and promote the selfs best long term interests of health and well-being. 4 Perpetual Motion Learning to treat oneself with instantaneous subconscious response, in particular one that reduces psychological tension and intimately physical tension, is rewarding. Once we have time to reflect on whether our actions are mentally ethical we can rectify our behaviour for the next time. Some of us of course will not reflect on this cyclic behaviour and so it becomes habitual, making its modification more difficult. We find ourselves even when fully aware deflecting the real issues of behaviour with a minimising techniques. Effectively it takes away the possibility of choosing a healthier action or behaviour in the future†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 5 e. g. Head in the sand, deflecting true emotions with humour, anaesthesia/drug and alcohol use, keeping busy as to not have time to reflect, passing the blame, and â€Å"there is no point anyway†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 5 The Fear Factory â€Å"Our dependency makes slaves out of us, especially if this dependency is a dependency of our self esteem. If you need e ncouragement, praise, pats on the back from everybody, then you make everybody your judge†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 6 We are creatures of habit and the fear generated by change can often feel verwhelming. But ultimately this in itself can become a restrictive boundary to an open, honest and progressive existence. All this deflection of true feelings, and the reality that we constantly disown or blame behaviour on any number of external influences, leaves us with little choice. â€Å"We lose the holistic nature of life and end up cutting the positive ties between the body’s psychical symptoms and the mind, we ignore the inner voice that wants us to be happy and healthy and make the right choices and farm out the responsibility on to the external forces onto which we place blame†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 5 e. g. f only†¦ When working through the challenge of self-defeating behaviours it is important that a client-led way of working is established. A therapist’s objective perspective will al low her to realise the client’s difficult behaviours and focus the therapy. But if the clients are in a state of crisis it may not be the right time to approach all of his self-defeating behaviours at once. There is credible reason for the human psyche to be afraid of change and this level of change will discourage the client attending therapy, and potentially nurture further self-defeating behaviours induced by failure. For example clients going through post traumatic stress disorder or extreme grief will not have the emotional perspective to address other behaviours in a healing way. Depressive patients may have emotional nuances that affect the therapeutic session minute by minute; ascertaining a positive session in these cases is paramount. As with all therapy, â€Å" it is vital that client empathy is sustained, challenges are gauged empathetically and that reassessment of the course of the therapy is a continual process shared with a supervisor on a regular basis. †5 Therapeutic Treatment for Self-Defeating Behaviour The PCC Technique Perhaps the most influential within this movement; Carl Rogers, introduced person-centred therapy. Which holds that intrinsic tendencies toward self-actualization (the personal psychological goal of the client) can be expressed and supported within a therapeutic relationship. Client-centred therapy operates according to three basic core principles that reflect the attitude of the therapist to the client: 1. The therapist is congruent with the client. 2. The therapist provides the client with unconditional positive regard (UPR). . The therapist shows empathetic understanding to the client. Carl Rogers took this a little further and proposed that therapy could be simpler, warmer and more optimistic than that carried out by behavioural or psychodynamic psychologists. The philosophy of Rogerian Counselling, or person-centred is to encourage an environment that will stimulate the client towards behavioural awareness, wit hout the intervention of the therapist suggestion. The therapist’s sole directive is to create an environment of acceptance, to offer warmth and empathy, without judgment. The therapist accomplishes this by reflecting this sensory awareness back to the client; the therapist induces a relaxed non-confrontational manner. Which will motivate the client toward feelings of safety and will therefore be more comfortable with expressing their inner feelings, and ultimately an acceptance of their own maladaptive behaviour. With the client encouraged by good feelings strengthening the inner-self, the therapist can explore self-defeating behaviours. Resulting in a complex and thorough knowledge of the psyche of the client. Allowing the therapist an insight into the pattern of self-defeating behaviour. Throughout this process with self-awareness and therapeutic encouragement, the client is following a path of self-actualisation. As the client becomes closer to self-actualisation they feel empowered, and more comfortable with their own thoughts and feelings, and are prepared to face the fear of change. And ultimately less defensive and subservient to theirs, and others peoples feelings, and opinions. Therefore discouraging continued maladaptive behaviour. The CBT Technique Therapists use several different techniques in the course of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy to help patients examine and change thoughts and behaviours. These include: Validity Testing The therapist asks the patient to defend his or her thoughts and beliefs. If the patient cannot produce objective evidence supporting his or her assumptions, the invalidity, or faulty nature, is exposed. Cognitive Rehearsal The patient is asked to imagine a difficult situation he has encountered in the past, and then works with the therapist to practice how to cope without a self-defeating approach. When the patient is confronted with a similar situation again, the rehearsed behaviour will be drawn on to manage it. Guided Discovery The therapist asks the patient a series of questions designed to guide the patient towards the discovery of his or her self-defeating behaviours. Writing in a Journal Clients keep a detailed written diary of situations that arise in everyday life, the thoughts and emotions surrounding them, and the behaviours that accompany them. The therapist and patient then review the journal together to discover maladaptive thought patterns and how these thoughts impact behaviour. Homework – A chance for the client to become acutely aware of the way they generate thought process and behaviour, whilst in the calm mental and physical space of their own lives. Modelling Role-playing exercises allow the therapist to act out appropriate reactions to different situations. The patient can then model correct behaviour. Systematic Positive Reinforcement Human behaviour is routinely motivated and rewarded by positive reinforcement, and a more specialised version of this phenomenon (systematic positive reinforcement) is used by behaviour-oriented therapists. Rules are established that specify particular behaviours that are to be reinforced, and a reward system is set up. Just as providing reinforcement strengthens behaviours, withholding it weakens them. Eradicating undesirable behaviour by deliberately withholding reinforcement is another popular treatment method called extinction. Aversive Conditioning This technique employs the principles of classical conditioning to lessen the appeal of a behaviour that is difficult to change because it is either very habitual or temporarily rewarding. The client is exposed to an unpleasant stimulus while engaged in or thinking about the behaviour in question. Eventually the self-defeating behaviour itself becomes associated with unpleasant rather than pleasant feelings. In counterconditioning, a maladaptive response is weakened by the strengthening of a response that is incompatible with it. A well-known type of counterconditioning is systematic desensitization, which counteracts the anxiety connected with a particular behaviour or situation by inducing a relaxed response to it instead. Initial Consultation Because cognitive-behavioural therapy is a collaborative effort between therapist and patient, a comfortable working relationship is critical to successful treatment. A consultation session is similar to an interview session, and it allows both patient and therapist to get to know one another. During the consultation, the therapist gathers information to make an initial assessment of the patient and to recommend both direction and goals for treatment. The patient has the opportunity to learn about the therapists professional credentials, his/her approach to treatment, and other relevant issues. PCC Vs CBT Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) and Person-Centred Therapy (PCT) have been shown to bring about positive changes in therapy. CBT and PCT, like all single-theory approaches, have limitations. Research suggests that when the change-producing techniques of  CBT and PCT are combined and applied, counselling is more effective. The strength of CBT is its emphasis on process and action (i. e. goal setting, collaborative action, etc. ), but it has been criticized as lacking an emphasis on the factors that develop a strong therapeutic relationship. The strength of PCT is its emphasis on the relationship (creating a strong working alliance), but it has been criticised as lacking in structure. By combining CBT and PCT, a â€Å"super ordinate clinical framework† is created that emphasises both a positive relationship (PCT) and provides structure and interventions (CBT). 8 It seems a very productive integrated approach, PCT develops a client relationship, encouraging confidence not just to trust the therapist but to express and ultimately reflect on the clients behaviour. And CBT can seamlessly adapt the client psychotherapeutic response into a proactive result. Conclusion â€Å"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. † Krishnamurti7 A healthy society should encourage us to take responsibility for our actions, our lives and health and any community that fails to do this is also failing its people. Time and again the western world takes pity and frequently criticises the simplicity of the life demands, family values and spirituality of the eastern world. An existence perceived as visceral, ancient, even naive. But their contentment seems to have little standing on what they own, or know, but more on how they feel. Ironically as a culture we lack confidence in own lives; in our own existence. As a result we force-feed the rest of the world with our own celebrity led culture, over the counter domestic drug use, and a perceived democratic rule. As if to naturalise our own behaviours, relying on a veneer of gloss surrounding a deeply troubled core. Even our respect for each other can be conditional, selling the next best thing at any cost. Including the sexualisation of young individuals, normally woman, sex as a crass marketing ploy. At what cost to the young†¦? A hollow message of materialism, and the pretence of momentary ownership. We need ownership of a different kind, one of stability and mental resilience. Is that our responsibility, as individuals†¦? Our culture is one that encourages the short-term fix, a distraction from our most valuable responsibility; our own mental health. We have a responsibility not just to ourselves but for the culture we create from the minds and souls of the young we foster, to every interaction, and every provoking thought. We even dissect and criticise the thought process and behaviour of pressured, perhaps troubled individuals, for TV entertainment.