Problem: Read the following case study:
Imani
Imani is a 21-year-old biracial woman of Black and White heritage who identifies as Muslim. She is currently in her junior year at a predominantly White college, attending on a full academic scholarship. Imani sought counseling through the university's mental health services after experiencing increasing levels of anxiety, emotional numbness, and difficulty sleeping. Initially, she attributed her distress to academic pressure and social isolation. As trust developed with her counselor, she disclosed that during her first year of college she was sexually assaulted after becoming intoxicated at a party. She woke up in a stranger's dorm room with fragmented memories and no recollection of giving consent. Imani has never told anyone about the assault and continues to carry immense shame, self-blame, and confusion surrounding the event.
Imani is the oldest of four siblings and was raised in a moderately observant Muslim household. Her mother, a White American woman who converted to Islam, instilled strong values of prayer, modesty, compassion, and responsibility. Her father, a Black Muslim man, left the family when Imani was 16 and later remarried and started a new family. Since COUN 6722/6301S: Theories of Counseling Case Studies the divorce, he has provided minimal financial support and little emotional involvement.
Imani describes him as emotionally and spiritually absent, and she continues to wrestle with feelings of abandonment. She expressed confusion over how her father could identify as a Muslim yet leave his first family behind, which has left her questioning the role of men, faith, and trust in her life. She stated, "He started over without us," and feels replaced and forgotten.
After the divorce, Imani's mother worked two jobs to support the family. Imani admires her mother's strength and views her as a source of emotional safety. At the same time, she has assumed a caregiver role within the household, often putting her own needs aside to help support her siblings emotionally and academically. Although she shares a close relationship with them, she has not disclosed the assault to her mother or siblings. She fears it would challenge her mother's image of her as "the responsible one" and potentially create spiritual distress within the family. Imani holds on to many of the religious values instilled by her mother like independence, faith, and compassion, yet she internally struggles to reconcile those beliefs with her trauma. She experiences religious guilt, especially because alcohol consumption and premarital sexual activity are prohibited in Islam. Although she intellectually understands that she was not at fault, she has described feeling "impure" and spiritually distant, saying, "I believe in God, but I feel like I failed him. I don't know if I'll ever feel right again."
Imani avoids Muslim Student Association events and rarely attends mosque or religious gatherings on campus. She worries about being judged or not being "a good enough Muslim," and fears rejection if others were to know her story. This fear, along with the cultural and racial invisibility she experiences at her predominantly White institution, contributes to her increasing social withdrawal. She has not formed close friendships at college and often describes herself as feeling "lonely, even when surrounded by people."
Her one meaningful connection is with Kia, a high school friend who also attends the same university. While their relationship offers some comfort, Imani has not confided in her about the assault, fearing judgment or pity and struggling to feel fully seen.
Despite these challenges, Imani has expressed a desire for healing. She stated she "wants help to live a good life" and "to feel whole again, like I'm not broken or failing in God's eyes." She is not looking to erase what happened to her, but rather to understand how to live beyond it. Imani is seeking a path toward peace, spiritual clarity, and reconnection with herself, her faith, and her future.
Now, complete the following template as an Adlerian counselor:
Case Conceptualization
Theory: Name your theory (Adlerian)
Presenting Problem: Describe the client (name, age, gender, ethnicity, family, etc.) and the client's issues in terms of how you perceive the problems/issues (e.g., client exhibited symptoms of anxiety - pressured speech, tense features, agitated or restless). Be sure to include contributing factors but do not include extraneous details such as names of siblings, parents, etc. This is a concise summary of the client's issues. Need Assignment Help?
Hypothesis: Looking through the lens of your chosen theory and using key terms from that theory, explain your guess as to why the client is experiencing these problems. For example, if you see the client as socially disconnected, indicating low social interest, from an Adlerian view, explain the evidence for this from the details in the case study. If you are applying a person-centered approach, provide evidence from the case that suggests the client is living incongruently. Be sure to support your thoughts with a citation from the required textbook.
Goal: Explain the goal for your client using key terms from the theory you are using to address the cause you identified in your hypothesis (e.g., The goal of xxxxx theory is xxxxx (cite your source). Then, continue with the change your chosen client will make with examples. In other words, what would an Adlerian counselor want to see happen for the client and why? For example, an Adlerian counselor might want to encourage the client to engage in a lifestyle that meets their social needs, whereas a person-centered counselor might want to see the client live congruently. Be sure to support your thoughts with a citation from the required textbook.
Interventions: Select a minimum of two interventions from the theory you have chosen and explain each intervention and how it will benefit your chosen client in meeting the goals. Be sure to cite your source from the required Learning Resources and/or from another scholarly source.
- Intervention 1 (Name the intervention): 1) Describe the intervention (Cite your source); 2) Explain how this intervention might be useful for your client to achieve the goal using the same theoretical language.
- Intervention 2 (Name the intervention): 1) Describe the intervention (Cite your source); 2) Explain how this intervention might be useful for your client to achieve the goal using the same theoretical language.
Expected Outcome: Describe the changes you expect your chosen client to experience as they progress in counseling using the intervention above. These outcomes should reflect your chosen client's movement toward their goals, as defined by the theory. Be sure to support your thoughts with a citation from the required Learning Resources.
References: List your references here. You are required to use at least two Learning Resources from this week to support your thoughts. This demonstrates that you are engaging with the assigned materials, applying them to your work, and showing critical thinking, analysis, and synthesis of the course content. Be sure to use APA 7th edition format for all references. Remember you must cite and reference the chapter author(s) NOT the editors of our textbook.
The textbook and learning resources are as follows:
Dufrene, R. L. & Clark, L. B. (2022). Adlerian theory. In D. Capuzzi & M. D. Stauffer (Eds.), Counseling and psychotherapy: Theories and interventions (7th ed., pp. 95-116). American Counseling Association.
Johnson, A. L. & Zazzarino, A. (2022). Psychoanalytic theory. In D. Capuzzi & M. D. Stauffer (Eds.), Counseling and psychotherapy: Theories and interventions (7th ed., pp. 53-72). American Counseling Association.
Nelson, K. (2022). Jungian analytical theory. In D. Capuzzi & M. D. Stauffer (Eds.), Counseling and psychotherapy: Theories and interventions (7th ed., pp. 73-94). American Counseling Association.