AP Psychology — treatment of psychological disorders

The last topic of AP Psychology, the treatment of psychological disorders, pulls the whole course together: each therapy is an application of a perspective met earlier. Free association comes from the psychodynamic view of the unconscious, systematic desensitization from classical conditioning, token economies from operant conditioning, cognitive restructuring from the cognitive perspective, person-centered therapy from humanistic theory, and medication and brain stimulation from the biological perspective. Exam questions describe a session in a few sentences and ask what is being done and why, and the distractors are the techniques of the other perspectives.

This material covers that range in the order the course framework sets out. It starts with what research says about treatment: meta-analyses conclude that psychotherapies are generally effective, and an effective therapist builds a therapeutic alliance and shows cultural humility. It covers deinstitutionalization in the late 20th century and why psychotropic medication made it possible, and the ethical principles psychologists follow in treatment, such as nonmaleficence.

The techniques follow: free association and dream interpretation; cognitive therapy's work on the cognitive triad of negative thoughts about oneself, the world and the future; applied behavior analysis, including exposure therapies such as systematic desensitization, aversion therapy, token economies and biofeedback; cognitive-behavioral therapies such as rational-emotive behavior therapy and dialectical behavior therapy; person-centered therapy with active listening and unconditional positive regard; and the difference between group and individual therapy. The biological side covers medication classes (antidepressants, antianxiety drugs, lithium, antipsychotics) and the side effect tardive dyskinesia, together with electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation and psychosurgery. Hypnosis is included with what research does and does not support.

Every case is invented and described within the question, and every question asks you to identify a technique, a principle or a finding. None of it is guidance about anyone's own treatment.

Four formats are offered. The quiz has twelve scenario questions with explanations that say which perspective each wrong option belongs to. The flashcards cover the techniques and terms. In the oral exam an examiner opens with an invented case of exposure therapy and continues one question at a time across the other approaches, then gives brief feedback. The written work is a printable sheet of eight open questions, including comparing two therapies for the same invented client and explaining why hypnosis is not used to recover memories.

The material is based on the published AP Psychology course framework, Unit 5.

• Match therapeutic techniques to the psychodynamic, cognitive, behavioral, humanistic and biological perspectives
• Explain systematic desensitization, aversion therapy, token economies and biofeedback as applications of conditioning
• Describe what meta-analyses conclude about psychotherapy and the role of the therapeutic alliance
• Identify ethical principles in treatment such as nonmaleficence
• Distinguish medication classes, tardive dyskinesia, ECT, TMS and psychosurgery

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the College Board AP Psychology Course and Exam Description (effective fall 2024, with the October 2025 clarifications), Unit 5, topic 5.5 Treatment of Psychological Disorders. All cases are invented.