Which term describes therapies that aim to improve functioning by increasing a person's awareness of underlying motives and defenses?

• A. Behavior therapy
• B. Cognitive therapy
• C. Existential therapy
• D. Insight therapies

Answer: (D)

Insight therapies focus on helping people become aware of the hidden motives, conflicts, and defenses that influence their feelings and behavior. By gaining this insight, individuals can understand patterns that maintain distress and move toward change, which is why functioning improves as self-understanding deepens. This approach is typical of psychodynamic or psychoanalytic traditions that emphasize uncovering unconscious content through exploration and interpretation.

In contrast, behavior therapy targets changing observable actions through conditioning and reinforcement, cognitive therapy focuses on correcting distorted thoughts and beliefs, and existential therapy emphasizes meaning, freedom, and responsibility rather than unconscious motives. Therefore, the term that best fits the description is insight therapies.