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32 Unit I Foundations of Mental Health Nursing

l Psy
ona cho
t e r pers a
The nalytic
In heory ory
T

The nurse-client relationship Therapist talks and listens

is the basis for nursing care.
Takes a problem-solving
approach to treatment.
The nistic
to the patient. Defense
mechanisms explain
how people cope with
stress.

The
Ego
ory
a
Hum

The most basic needs

ory
must be met before a person
can meet higher level needs. People go through predictable
Nurse has unconditional positive stages of psychosocial development.
regard for client. People can choose Promote development by empowering
to grow even under difficult client to achieve developmental tasks
circumstances. in each stage.

Teaching and learning are Brain neurotransmitters affect

important to helping people change thought, feelings, and behavior.
behavior. There are multiple kinds Drugs that treat brain
of intelligence. Children go through neurotransmitters effectively

The gical
stages of cognitive (learning and treat mental disorders.
Cog eory

thinking) development.

ory
Th

lo
niti

Bio
People have basic
ve

Behavior is created personality traits

by reinforcement. New that are consistent
behavior can be trained. and difficult to
Examples include assertiveness change. Help people
training and desensitization change their behavior
for phobias. without changing their
individual style.
Beh
av t
Th iorist Trai
eor ry
y Theo

Figure 3-1. ■ Current psychotherapy includes principles from several personality theories.

finally the genital stage. In his theory, human development is

Figure 3-2. ■ Freud’s concept of the mind as an iceberg.
Source: Corbis/Bettmann.
complete when the person reaches adulthood.
Much of Freud’s psychosexual theory has been refuted
by biological and sociological research and is no longer
considered accurate. However, several points of Freud’s
research continue in current psychoanalytic thinking.
One is that all behavior is motivated (not accidental),
although the motivation is often not conscious. Another
enduring concept is that of defense mechanisms (or ego
defense mechanisms). Defense mechanisms are thoughts
and behaviors that distort reality to protect the self
(Friedman & Schustack, 1999). These processes are used
to protect the ego from threatening impulses or the
painful realities of life experiences. Table 3-1 ■ presents
definitions and examples of defense mechanisms.