Case Conceptualization
1. This client is seeking help at this point in time because she seems to be going through a hard time after leaving her husband. Feelings of anger, sadness, and guilt have resulted from this. She had moved herself and her daughter to her mother’s. Not long after did she find out that her ex husband had found someone else. She believes that her living with her mother at her age makes her a failure, which is a daily stressor to her. That is being a failure in providing for her children. Her short temper towards people has created a barrier between her and others. Her anger gets so intense that she experiences heart palpitations and rumination of negative thoughts. She believes that a childhood trauma, sexual abuse between …show more content…
After much thought and consideration I have come up with a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I came to this conclusion starting with the sexual assault that occurred to her between the ages of 3-7. This exposure to sexual assault and her direct personal experience to the event fall under Criterion A: Trauma. The client has had difficulty with intimate situations. She becomes very angry when an intimate partner touches her the wrong way, which is distress at exposure to external cues that symbolize or resemble the event. This falls under Criterion B: Re-experiencing. Persistent negative self-beliefs, persistent negative emotional state, diminished interest in activities, and feeling detached from others are the factors for Criterion D: Negative alterations in cognitions and mood. Difficulty falling asleep and irritability or outbursts of anger are Criterion E: Arousal. Another reason for my diagnosis is the fact that the client’s father was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Having a family history of mental health issues is a risk factor for PTSD. Other than the PTSD, I also believe the client developed depression from the event. I believe this to be true because of her treatment at the Psychological Clinic six years ago. They stated how she was too depressed to get out of bed. When they treated her, she stated that she actually was feeling helped. That is until she decided to stop treatment and medication because she believed she could go on without …show more content…
There are a few good treatment ideas I will discuss. The goal of treatment is so that the client can recall the trauma and learn over time to live with the memory so that it is no longer painful or distressing. To start off, we will go with a behavioral approach. This type of therapy is useful because it achieves results quickly, has lower costs, the methods are clear and can be readily evaluated, it has been proven effective, and especially for anxiety disorders, child behavioral problems. The first treatment may be exposure therapy in which I would have the client think deeply about the time she was assaulted and write about it. She will keep doing this and then I will have her read them back to me. This kind of treatment is difficult but it could have some good outcomes. The next treatment to discuss will be Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). This therapy is designed to have the client gather information about themselves and then have to test hypotheses. This helps them identify underlying thoughts to use. After those therapies I would then decide to use medications along side the therapy. There are positives and negatives to using medications. Medications help lots of people lead more healthy and functional lives. There are many medications though that have side effects and can be prescribed incorrectly. Relapse can also occur is disorder is not cured. I would most likely prescribe an antidepressant and/ or Benzodiazepines. I will know treatment is working when my
1. This client is seeking help at this point in time because she seems to be going through a hard time after leaving her husband. Feelings of anger, sadness, and guilt have resulted from this. She had moved herself and her daughter to her mother’s. Not long after did she find out that her ex husband had found someone else. She believes that her living with her mother at her age makes her a failure, which is a daily stressor to her. That is being a failure in providing for her children. Her short temper towards people has created a barrier between her and others. Her anger gets so intense that she experiences heart palpitations and rumination of negative thoughts. She believes that a childhood trauma, sexual abuse between …show more content…
After much thought and consideration I have come up with a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I came to this conclusion starting with the sexual assault that occurred to her between the ages of 3-7. This exposure to sexual assault and her direct personal experience to the event fall under Criterion A: Trauma. The client has had difficulty with intimate situations. She becomes very angry when an intimate partner touches her the wrong way, which is distress at exposure to external cues that symbolize or resemble the event. This falls under Criterion B: Re-experiencing. Persistent negative self-beliefs, persistent negative emotional state, diminished interest in activities, and feeling detached from others are the factors for Criterion D: Negative alterations in cognitions and mood. Difficulty falling asleep and irritability or outbursts of anger are Criterion E: Arousal. Another reason for my diagnosis is the fact that the client’s father was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Having a family history of mental health issues is a risk factor for PTSD. Other than the PTSD, I also believe the client developed depression from the event. I believe this to be true because of her treatment at the Psychological Clinic six years ago. They stated how she was too depressed to get out of bed. When they treated her, she stated that she actually was feeling helped. That is until she decided to stop treatment and medication because she believed she could go on without …show more content…
There are a few good treatment ideas I will discuss. The goal of treatment is so that the client can recall the trauma and learn over time to live with the memory so that it is no longer painful or distressing. To start off, we will go with a behavioral approach. This type of therapy is useful because it achieves results quickly, has lower costs, the methods are clear and can be readily evaluated, it has been proven effective, and especially for anxiety disorders, child behavioral problems. The first treatment may be exposure therapy in which I would have the client think deeply about the time she was assaulted and write about it. She will keep doing this and then I will have her read them back to me. This kind of treatment is difficult but it could have some good outcomes. The next treatment to discuss will be Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). This therapy is designed to have the client gather information about themselves and then have to test hypotheses. This helps them identify underlying thoughts to use. After those therapies I would then decide to use medications along side the therapy. There are positives and negatives to using medications. Medications help lots of people lead more healthy and functional lives. There are many medications though that have side effects and can be prescribed incorrectly. Relapse can also occur is disorder is not cured. I would most likely prescribe an antidepressant and/ or Benzodiazepines. I will know treatment is working when my