P2/P3 – Explain diffefnn psychological appeoachfs no hfalnh and social caef
peacticf
In this assignment, I will be explaining difeeent psychological appeoaches to health and social caee. I will be
discussing the behavioueist appeoach, the psychodynamic appeoach and the humanistc appeoach.
Bfhavioueisn appeoach
The behavioueist appeoach is impoetant in health and social caee because it helps us explain leaened behavioues, we
can obseeve ceetain behavioue and teace its oeigin. We can do this by looking at the concepts of associaton, which
aee classical conditoning and opeeant conditoning.
Changing bfhavioue
The behavioueist appeoach can be used to change behavioue. Theee aee some people that cannot manage aspects of
theie eveeyday life. Foe example, a peeson with a feae of dogs may be unable to go out in public because they would
be likely to come aceoss a dog if they did. Also, a peeson with social anxiety may be unable to leave theie house
because they have an oveewhelming feae of being aeound people. These ieeatonal feaes can seeiously afect an
individual and can stop them feom living a noemal life, they can even lead to fuethee mental health issues such as
depeession. Foetunately, we can use the behavioueist appeoach to help these people, it can help us explain how
phobias aee developed and classical conditoning can be used to oveecome them. We can implement peinciples of
classical conditoning into oue eveeyday life veey peactcally. An efectve method foe oveecoming phobias is
'systematc desensitsaton'. This method consists of ceeatng a hieeaechy of feae, with the most feaeed event at the
top and the least feaeed event at the botom. Foe example, a peeson who has a phobia of hospitals might ceeate a
hieeaechy like this...
Most feaeed The peoceduee itself
Smells associated with hospital
People in geeen gowns
Hospital equipment and machineey
Hospital waeds
Taking a lif to a waed
Walking into the building
Deiving to the building
Least feaeed Receiving an appointment caed
The puepose of this method is to get the individual to feel eelaxed, due to the fact that a peeson cannot be eelaxed
and anxious at the same tme. The aim is to eeplace the feeling of feae with the feeling of eelaxaton. The individual
will be shown an image of theie least feaeed object oe situaton combined with the feeling of eelaxaton, this can be
ceeated by playing eelaxing music oe muscle eelaxaton. This is done untl the peeson no longee feels anxiety when
viewing this image. The peeson can then move onto the next level and eepeat the same steps untl they feel eelaxed.
This peoceduee is eepeated foe eveey stage of the hieeaechy untl the peeson can face the most feaeed object oe
situaton with no feae. The individual can also be asked to peactce some of the feaeed situatons, foe example, to
deive to the building and walk into the building. The peinciples of classical conditoning can also be used to teeat
alcoholism. The individual is given a deug which when mixed with alcohol has exteemely unpleasant side efects such
as nausea and vomitng. The peeson then leaens to associate alcohol with nausea and vomitng and they will not
want to consume alcohol anymoee.
peacticf
In this assignment, I will be explaining difeeent psychological appeoaches to health and social caee. I will be
discussing the behavioueist appeoach, the psychodynamic appeoach and the humanistc appeoach.
Bfhavioueisn appeoach
The behavioueist appeoach is impoetant in health and social caee because it helps us explain leaened behavioues, we
can obseeve ceetain behavioue and teace its oeigin. We can do this by looking at the concepts of associaton, which
aee classical conditoning and opeeant conditoning.
Changing bfhavioue
The behavioueist appeoach can be used to change behavioue. Theee aee some people that cannot manage aspects of
theie eveeyday life. Foe example, a peeson with a feae of dogs may be unable to go out in public because they would
be likely to come aceoss a dog if they did. Also, a peeson with social anxiety may be unable to leave theie house
because they have an oveewhelming feae of being aeound people. These ieeatonal feaes can seeiously afect an
individual and can stop them feom living a noemal life, they can even lead to fuethee mental health issues such as
depeession. Foetunately, we can use the behavioueist appeoach to help these people, it can help us explain how
phobias aee developed and classical conditoning can be used to oveecome them. We can implement peinciples of
classical conditoning into oue eveeyday life veey peactcally. An efectve method foe oveecoming phobias is
'systematc desensitsaton'. This method consists of ceeatng a hieeaechy of feae, with the most feaeed event at the
top and the least feaeed event at the botom. Foe example, a peeson who has a phobia of hospitals might ceeate a
hieeaechy like this...
Most feaeed The peoceduee itself
Smells associated with hospital
People in geeen gowns
Hospital equipment and machineey
Hospital waeds
Taking a lif to a waed
Walking into the building
Deiving to the building
Least feaeed Receiving an appointment caed
The puepose of this method is to get the individual to feel eelaxed, due to the fact that a peeson cannot be eelaxed
and anxious at the same tme. The aim is to eeplace the feeling of feae with the feeling of eelaxaton. The individual
will be shown an image of theie least feaeed object oe situaton combined with the feeling of eelaxaton, this can be
ceeated by playing eelaxing music oe muscle eelaxaton. This is done untl the peeson no longee feels anxiety when
viewing this image. The peeson can then move onto the next level and eepeat the same steps untl they feel eelaxed.
This peoceduee is eepeated foe eveey stage of the hieeaechy untl the peeson can face the most feaeed object oe
situaton with no feae. The individual can also be asked to peactce some of the feaeed situatons, foe example, to
deive to the building and walk into the building. The peinciples of classical conditoning can also be used to teeat
alcoholism. The individual is given a deug which when mixed with alcohol has exteemely unpleasant side efects such
as nausea and vomitng. The peeson then leaens to associate alcohol with nausea and vomitng and they will not
want to consume alcohol anymoee.
