Psychotherapy and Psychological Treatments
Core concepts
Know the major modalities: psychodynamic (unconscious conflict, transference, defence mechanisms), CBT (cognitive triad, automatic thoughts, behavioural experiments), behavioural therapy (classical/operant conditioning, exposure, systematic desensitization), DBT (emotion regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, mindfulness - for borderline personality disorder), interpersonal therapy (IPT - for depression), family and group therapy, and supportive therapy. Understand common factors (therapeutic alliance, empathy, expectancy) and the evidence base - CBT has strong evidence for anxiety, depression, OCD, PTSD, and insomnia. Know exposure and response prevention for OCD, prolonged exposure for PTSD, and behavioural activation for depression. Understand mechanisms: extinction learning, cognitive restructuring, and skills acquisition.
Traps
Match therapy to disorder: DBT for borderline personality disorder, ERP for OCD, IPT or CBT for depression, family-based treatment for adolescent anorexia. Do not confuse psychodynamic interpretation with CBT's collaborative empiricism. Questions may test which therapy has the strongest evidence for a specific condition.
Rule of thumb
When asked 'best psychotherapy for X', default to CBT unless the condition has a specific evidence-based modality (DBT for BPD, ERP for OCD, FBT for anorexia).