Psychology of learning: Elsa is a 13-year-old girl. A little over a year ago she

Question

Psychology of learning: Elsa is a 13-year-old girl. A little over a year ago she lost both of her parents in a tragic transportation accident. Ever since her parents died, she has had horrible nightmares that she has magical powers and that was to blame for the accident. Her remaining family has noticed that she seems more withdrawn than she did previously. Elsa has reportedly been hypervigilant to threats. For example, when she feels threatened she runs away and does not return home until a family member finds her and helps her feel safe.

Elsa reports constantly worrying about a number of things, including her sister and the future of her country. She is specifically concerned that she might do something that could hurt her sister. Whenever she worries about hurting her sister, she repeats the phrase “conceal, don’t feel.” Elsa also seems to experience stomach aches when she worries that are sometimes so bad she needs to miss school.

Elsa was diagnosed with both PTSD and MDD symptoms.

1) Describe how exposure therapy can be used to treat Elsa's PTSD symptoms?

2) Describe how behavioral activation therapy can be used to treat MDD symptoms?

Explanation / Answer

1. Prolonged exposure therapy(PE) is a form of behavior therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. It is usually designed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD). PTSD is characterized by re-experiencing the traumatic event through remembering it and engaging with, rather than avoiding, reminders of the trauma. PE is one type of trauma-focused psychotherapy. It teaches you to gradually approach trauma-related memories, feelings, and situations that you have been avoiding since your trauma. By confronting these challenges, you can decrease your PTSD symptoms.

2. Major depressive disorder(MDD) is the most prevalent psychological disorder. It is basically a form of depression. Behavioral activation(BA) is a behavior therapy for treating depression.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse P
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.