Assignment:
Treatment Plan Case Study Analysis
Use the attached case study and thoroughly address the following components:
Keep in mind that how you conceptualize the following will vary greatly depending on the approach you chose.
1. What would the clinical goals be with these clients? How would they be formulated in accordance with your clinical approach?
2. Using the family systems theory (Solution Focused), develop a basic, systemically-based treatment plan for use with these clients. One option would be to choose at least one short-term, medium-term, and long-term goal that is targeted at the whole system or chosen sub-systems, depending on the case, then identify specific interventions from your chosen theory that you will use to achieve each goal. However, your treatment plan should be driven by your choice of theory. Remember, interventions are therapist actions which encourage, invite, or support change.
3. You may find that the nature of the case suggests interventions that do not fit with your chosen theory-for example, psycho education about birth control options, when you are using Bowen family therapy. You may include these in your treatment plan as long as you articulate a clinically-sound rationale for doing so, grounded in professional literature. Consider the intersystems approach in the Hertlein, Weeks, and Sendak textbook, as well as any other integrative rationales that may be useful.
4. How would the application of your treatment take into account the diversity issues relevant to this case? How might your chosen theory or interventions need to be adapted to be culturally-sensitive?
5. How would your own identities-your gender, race or ethnicity, age, religion, disability, relationship status, et cetera, impact your work with these clients? Consider ways in which you might be similar to or different from one or more members.
CASE STUDY
Henry, 38, and Oni, 48, have been married for two years. They met through an online dating service, three and a half years ago. Henry was born in Canada to a French-Canadian mother and a white father from the United States; his family immigrated to the U.S. when he was 11. Oni's father emigrated from Nigeria after attending college in the U.S., and eventually married her mother, who is African-American. This is a first marriage for Henry. Oni was married once previously, when she was just out of college. The marriage lasted for two years but ended when her husband had an affair.
Both members of the couple say they love each other very much, but are worried about the fighting and tension in their marriage. A brief assessment for sexual issues reveals that they have serious concerns in the area of sexual activities and sexual frequency. Henry complains that Oni no longer wants to have sex with him, and as a result, he feels rejected and depressed. "My wife does not want to make love with me," he says. "What kind of man does that make me?" Oni sits quietly while Greg talks.
When he finishes, she bursts out loudly, "how am I supposed to want to have sex with you when you are having sex with those other women all night, every night?" She clarifies that she is talking about his habit of using online pornography, which she found out about a year ago when she walked into his office to ask him to come to bed and found him masturbating. She says she felt "cheated on," and asked him to stop but he refused. Henry replies, angrily "where else am I supposed to get my needs satisfied, then?" In response to questioning, he agrees that he has increased the amount of time he spends using pornography since that confrontation, to the point that some nights he surfs for several hours.
Oni says she has plenty of desire for sex, but her anger with Henry does not make her feel like being close to him. She describes her feelings about masturbation by saying "it is normal, but you should not want to do it more than you want to have sex with your wife. And you should not have to look at a bunch of white women to get off!" Henry responds that he does want to have sex with Oni, but she rejects him. She starts to cry. When you ask about her tears, she describes an incident a month ago when she woke up to find Henry trying to have intercourse with her while she was sleeping. "He was touching my breasts, between my legs, it was awful. I felt like a piece of meat."