Problem:
Mrs. Oliverio is a 28-year-old married woman who reports that an excessive fear that her husband will die has led her to seek therapy. She further states that because this is her second marriage, it is important for her to work out her problem so that it doesn't ultimately interfere with her relationship with her husband. Her husband is a sales representative and occasionally has to attend out-of-town meetings. According to Mrs. Oliverio, whenever he has gone away on a trip during the 2 years of their marriage, she "goes to pieces" and feels "utterly devastated" because of recurring thoughts that he will die and not return. She states that this is a very intense fear and occurs even when he is gone on short trips, such as a half day or a day. She is not aware of any coping thoughts or behaviors she uses at these times. She indicates that she feels great as soon as her husband gets home. She states that this was also a problem for her in her first marriage, which ended in divorce 5 years ago. She believes the thoughts occur because her father died unexpectedly when she was 11 years old. Whenever her husband tells her he has to leave or actually does leave, she re-experiences the pain of being told her father has died. She feels plagued with thoughts that her husband will not return and then feels intense anxiety. She is constantly thinking about never seeing her husband again during these anxiety episodes. According to Mrs. Oliverio, her husband has been very supportive and patient and has spent a considerable amount of time trying to reassure her and to convince her, through reasoning, that he will return from a trip. She states that this has not helped her to stop worrying excessively that he will die and not return. She also states that in the past few months her husband has canceled several business trips just to avoid putting her through all this pain.
Mrs. Oliverio also reports that this anxiety has resulted in some insomnia during the past 2 years. She states that as soon as her husband informs her that he must leave town, she has difficulty going to sleep that evening. When he has to be gone on an overnight trip, she doesn't sleep at all. She simply lies in bed and worries about her husband dying and also feels very frustrated that it is getting later and later and that she is still awake. She reports sleeping fairly well as long as her husband is home and a trip is not impending.
Mrs. Oliverio reports that she feels very satisfied with her present marriage except for some occasional times when she finds herself thinking that her husband does not fulfill all her expectations. She is not sure exactly what her expectations are, but she is aware of feeling anger toward him after this happens. When she gets angry, she just "explodes" and feels as though she lashes out at her husband for no apparent reason. She reports that she doesn't like to explode at her husband like this but feels relieved after it happens. She indicates that her husband continues to be very supportive and protective despite her occasional outbursts. She suspects the anger may be her way of getting back at him for going away on a trip and leaving her alone. She also expresses feelings of hurt and anger since her father's death in being unable to find a "father substitute." She also reports feeling intense anger toward her ex-husband after the divorce-anger she still sometimes experiences.
Mrs. Oliverio has no children. She is employed in a responsible position as an administrative assistant and makes $38,500 per year. She reports that she enjoys her work, although she constantly worries that her boss might not be pleased with her and that she could lose her job even though her work evaluations have been satisfactory. She reports that another event she has been worried about is the health of her brother, who was injured in a car accident this past year. She further reports that she has an excellent relationship with her brother and strong ties to her church.Discuss how you would address the issues presented by " Ms. Oliverio " in activity 6.1 on page 185. First identify the issues presented and then discuss how you would deal with those issues. Need Assignment Help?