Assignment 2: RA 1: Treatment Plan Paper

 

In this assignment, you will apply two different theoretical orientations or treatment approaches to one case study.

Click

here

to read the case study.

Tasks:

Select one emotion- or sensation-related theory and one thought-related theory to apply to a case study:

• Theories related to emotions or sensations:

  Person-centered therapy
  Existential psychotherapy
  Gestalt therapy

• Theories related to thoughts:

  Rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)
  Cognitive therapy (CT)

Your final deliverable will be a 5- to 7-page Microsoft Word document. Utilize a minimum of four scholarly references and address the following:

• Who are the primary figures who played major roles in the development or expansion of each theory? Provide information about those individuals, their philosophies of human nature, and how their theoretical approaches were developed.
• What are the basic assumptions of each theory or treatment approach? Include information about the following assumptions of each theory:

  Underlying causes or etiology of symptoms, dysfunction, or distress
  Type of change necessary to achieve more adaptive functioning
  Role of the counselor
  Role of the client
  Structure of the treatment

• What are the goals of each treatment approach?
• What techniques are associated with each treatment approach?
• Identify issues related to use of these theories when working with multicultural clients.
• Which of the two theories do you prefer? Provide at least three reasons for your preference.

Apply each theory to the case study and design one treatment plan according to each theory. Include details about the following:

• The targeted problem(s) for treatment
• Each theory’s conceptualization of the causes of those problems
• Behavioral definitions of the presenting problem(s) (the behaviors and symptoms that are visible to the counselor or that can be observed and measured)
• Each theory’s goals of treatment specific to each targeted problem area (behaviors or skills clients will gain as a result of the treatment)
• Each theory’s interventions (techniques that should be used by the counselor to address the client’s presenting problem or issues)
• Effectiveness of these approaches or interventions, based on available research
•  Case study attached no plag and use sources 

Page 1 of 1

Counseling Theory

©2014 Argosy University

Jane: A 50-Year-Old Woman Whose Husband Has Cancer

The following case study is adapted from Pearson’s MyCounselingLab for Counseling Theories (Seligman &
Reichenberg, 2014).

You are working in a mental health center and seeing a new client, Jane. This client has mental health
benefits through her insurance. You are a provider for that insurance company.

Early on in the first session, Jane expresses symptoms of interrupted sleep and a lack of appetite. She
states that the reason she has come to the mental health center is that her husband has cancer, he is
physically incapacitated, and he is scheduled to have a third surgery in about two weeks. She does not
seem to know much about her husband’s kind of cancer. She reports her level of distress is a 6 on a scale
of 1 (low distress) to 7 (high distress). She tells you that her goal in meeting with you is to be able to cope
with what’s in store for herself and her family. She describes her mood as low. She is also having some
difficulty concentrating at work. She does state, though, that she wants to be seen alone at first. Jane
seems to be an individual who has the resources, psychologically and materially, to help her get through
difficult situations. She also knows when to ask for help.

Jane is 50, has completed high school, and has been working in the same job for the past 30 years. She
states she is in good health, though overweight. She is complaining of lower back pain. She takes
medication for her high blood pressure and takes a sleeping pill at bedtime. She does not use illegal drugs
or alcohol. She is not suicidal or homicidal.

Jane had been in therapy many years ago because of another life crisis and says she found it helpful
because “I was able to express my emotions.”

She was the only child of her parent’s marriage. Her mother married several times and had only one
other child, many years Jane’s senior. Her father had been married twice before and had two children by
one of those marriages. Jane reports that she was a “battered child.” Jane describes her mother as “very
emotional, displacing her anger on me when I was about 6.” Jane states she knows of no other mental
health problems in her family. Jane married her present “husband” about 20 years ago, stayed married to
him for about five years, divorced him, and then went back to living with him. Since then, Jane has
remained with him without marrying him. Jane and her once-husband are planning to get married again
in one week. They have one child, now 19. Jane relies on her daughter and often shares her distress with
her.

Jane speaks of herself as a “survivor.” She feels that therapy was helpful to her once before and has come
to you today because she wants “an outlet to say what I need to say and share my pain.”

Reference:

Seligman, L., & Reichenberg, L. W. (2014). MyCounselingLab for Counseling Theories. (eText ed.). Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. ISBN-13: 978-0-13-3390803.