Ananya, 24, from Bengaluru, has been feeling lonely and finds her life futile. Consider how different therapists would explain how her problem came about:
(A) A psychodynamic therapist would trace it to unfulfilled desires and unresolved fears of her childhood.
(B) A behaviour therapist would trace it to faulty conditioning patterns, faulty learning, and faulty thinking and beliefs.
(C) A behaviour therapist would trace it to unresolved childhood fears that create intrapsychic conflicts.
(D) An existential therapist would see her current feelings of loneliness and alienation as the cause.
How many of the statements given above are correct?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Only three
(A) A psychodynamic therapist would trace it to unfulfilled desires and unresolved fears of her childhood. — Correct. In psychodynamic therapy, unfulfilled desires of childhood and unresolved childhood fears lead to intrapsychic conflicts, which cause the problem.
(B) A behaviour therapist would trace it to faulty conditioning patterns, faulty learning, and faulty thinking and beliefs. — Correct. Behaviour therapy holds that faulty conditioning patterns, faulty learning, and faulty thinking and beliefs lead to maladaptive behaviours and then to psychological problems.
(C) A behaviour therapist would trace it to unresolved childhood fears that create intrapsychic conflicts. — Incorrect. Unresolved childhood fears creating intrapsychic conflicts is the psychodynamic account. A behaviour therapist looks to faulty conditioning, learning and thinking.
(D) An existential therapist would see her current feelings of loneliness and alienation as the cause. — Correct. Existential therapy places importance on the present: current feelings of loneliness, alienation and a sense of futility cause the problem.
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