CBT Reflective Paper
Assessment/Service Plan
Case Member: Sarah is a 41 year old, married, mother of two elementary aged boys. Professionally, she has been a successful pastor for 15 years, building an excellent reputation for herself. Last year, Sarah accepted a full time position as a Family Ministries Pastor at a large church that ministers to over 300 children weekly. After only a few months on staff, Sarah became increasingly stressed. Part of her job requirement is the ability to handle the fast pace of a large church, by performing all required pastoral duties while also implementing new events for families and children. Consistently working 60 or more hours a week, Sarah has no quality time with her family. Recently, Sarah has …show more content…
Before being so consumed with stress, Sarah enjoyed doing activities with her family. Sarah is well educated, and holds a proven history of competency in her vocation. Previously, she found the pastorate to be meaningful. Her faith system is foundational to her life.
Professional assessment and case formulation
Sarah presents as placing demanding expectations on herself to achieve at levels of near perfection, professionally, and with her family, producing generalized anxiety within her. Seemingly lacking in self-care skills, this is leading her towards burnout, alongside the anxiety. Likewise, Sarah presents with a polarized thinking, equating lack of affirmation, to being a disappointment to others. CBT techniques will be used to address the presenting issues.
Service Plan
Goal: 1) Address the distorted, polarized thinking of Sarah that she is disappointing everyone, and work towards healthier thought patterns to reduce/manage her anxiety. 2) Help Sarah develop and implement self-care strategies to reduce/manage distressing moods. 3) Help improve communication between Sarah and her boss, and her family, for healthier environments. Using a psychometric tool to rate moods Sarah chose 90% for worry, and 75% for …show more content…
Case Note
Session Number and Focus:
In session three, Sarah brought in her first thought record. Her boss had sent an email about a confrontation he had with an angry mother, who was upset by changes Sarah made at the church. Although her boss wrote that he was pleased with her work, and not concerned with what this parent said, all Sarah thought was “I am doing a bad job”, leaving her to feel anxious.
Identifying this polarizing hot thought as the greatest source of Sarah’s anxiety was our focus.
Interventions To help Sarah move from polarized thinking, towards a balanced CBT thinking, we worked on counteracting the distorted thought. Sarah came up with statements like “One mother may have made me think I am doing a bad job, but the parents of over 295 kids did not”, and “I may appear to be doing a bad job to one mother, but my boss said he is pleased with my work”. Sarah is going to continue this exercise this week to see if it helps reduce/manage her anxiety.
Ongoing Evaluation
Assessment/Service Plan
Case Member: Sarah is a 41 year old, married, mother of two elementary aged boys. Professionally, she has been a successful pastor for 15 years, building an excellent reputation for herself. Last year, Sarah accepted a full time position as a Family Ministries Pastor at a large church that ministers to over 300 children weekly. After only a few months on staff, Sarah became increasingly stressed. Part of her job requirement is the ability to handle the fast pace of a large church, by performing all required pastoral duties while also implementing new events for families and children. Consistently working 60 or more hours a week, Sarah has no quality time with her family. Recently, Sarah has …show more content…
Before being so consumed with stress, Sarah enjoyed doing activities with her family. Sarah is well educated, and holds a proven history of competency in her vocation. Previously, she found the pastorate to be meaningful. Her faith system is foundational to her life.
Professional assessment and case formulation
Sarah presents as placing demanding expectations on herself to achieve at levels of near perfection, professionally, and with her family, producing generalized anxiety within her. Seemingly lacking in self-care skills, this is leading her towards burnout, alongside the anxiety. Likewise, Sarah presents with a polarized thinking, equating lack of affirmation, to being a disappointment to others. CBT techniques will be used to address the presenting issues.
Service Plan
Goal: 1) Address the distorted, polarized thinking of Sarah that she is disappointing everyone, and work towards healthier thought patterns to reduce/manage her anxiety. 2) Help Sarah develop and implement self-care strategies to reduce/manage distressing moods. 3) Help improve communication between Sarah and her boss, and her family, for healthier environments. Using a psychometric tool to rate moods Sarah chose 90% for worry, and 75% for …show more content…
Case Note
Session Number and Focus:
In session three, Sarah brought in her first thought record. Her boss had sent an email about a confrontation he had with an angry mother, who was upset by changes Sarah made at the church. Although her boss wrote that he was pleased with her work, and not concerned with what this parent said, all Sarah thought was “I am doing a bad job”, leaving her to feel anxious.
Identifying this polarizing hot thought as the greatest source of Sarah’s anxiety was our focus.
Interventions To help Sarah move from polarized thinking, towards a balanced CBT thinking, we worked on counteracting the distorted thought. Sarah came up with statements like “One mother may have made me think I am doing a bad job, but the parents of over 295 kids did not”, and “I may appear to be doing a bad job to one mother, but my boss said he is pleased with my work”. Sarah is going to continue this exercise this week to see if it helps reduce/manage her anxiety.
Ongoing Evaluation