Abnormal Psychology and Therapy

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Abnormal Psychology and Therapy By: Kimberly Lee, Kat Pejic, Diana DeJonge, Emma Weitzel, and Jacob Whitehead PSY/300 Jennifer Murphy September 9, 2013 Abnormal Psychology and Therapy Psychology studies the mental processes, feelings, and behavior of human beings. Abnormal psychology is when one’s thoughts, feelings, or behavior leads to issues for them and affects their daily lives. Mental disorders and illnesses affect thoughts and behaviors of human beings, as well as their daily lives also. There are several different types of therapy used to treat mental disorders and illnesses. The type of therapy used depends on the psychologists’ perspective of the disorder and/or illness and the individual. “It is past the time that we rethink what we mean by the words “normal” and “abnormal” as those words apply to the mental and emotional states and behaviors of human beings” (Maisel, 2011, para.1). Abnormal psychology refers to a psychological disorder that prevents an individual from staying in touch with reality. This does not mean day dreaming, but something that prevents someone from functioning in their daily life. “Neurotic problems occur in most, if not all, people at different points in their lives and usually do not stop them from functioning really well” (Kowalski & Westen, 2009, Ch.14). Although someone who is considered psychologically normal could easily still be caught talking to themselves on occasion, it is not something that interferes with living a socially acceptable life. Normal and abnormal psychology share one, main interest; they both involve behavior and mental processes, whether they are determined to be normal or abnormal. Psychology that is considered to be normal refers to behaviors within a normal range that have no effect on mental processes. There are no signs of psychological
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