Assignment: Clinical Social Work Paper
Length: 10 pages.
This paper provides the opportunity to apply the theories and interventions learned throughout the semester to an individual from your CURRENT field placement or to one of the cases provided for you. If you have never utilized interpersonal, psychodynamic, and/or cognitive behavioral approaches in your work, then act as if you did. By this I mean: analyze the client through the lenses of interpersonal, psychodynamic, and cognitive theories and then apply the interventions stemming from these theories.
It is expected that the paper include references from this course (i.e., texts, required readings), and a minimum of FIVE empirical and theoretical scholarly articles that are not on the syllabus. At least FOUR of your outside sources should come from scholarly journals, not books or websites. The DSM does not count as one of your scholarly sources.
Organization of the Paper
Part A: Choose a client from your current field placement OR one of the cases provided for you. If you choose one provided for you, the instructor cannot provide any other information regarding the case.
Part B: Case Formulation (no more than 5 pages)
a. Briefly describe your professional setting (no more than two or three sentences).
b. Identify the client's presenting problem. Include client information (age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation and/or gender identity, family composition, etc.). Also, discuss whether the client used social or mental health services in the past. This is a good place to cite literature that is not on the syllabus.
c. Discuss how membership in an oppressed group might contribute to or exacerbate the problem. For example, if your client is Latina, discuss some of the psychosocial issues encountered by Latina populations and whether or not these issues relate to your client. This is a good place to cite literature that is not on the syllabus.
d. What family issues and/or stressful/traumatic/developmental experiences have contributed to the client's current problem? Describing these experiences is not enough. Advanced clinical practice requires you to carefully analyze these experiences and explain how they affect your client's psychosocial functioning. In this section you should consider Family of origin materials such as parenting style, attachment issues, maneuvering behaviors. This is a good place to cite literature that is not on the syllabus.
e. Include a psychiatric diagnosis according to DSM-5. See example below. Phrase in the following way:
According to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) Ms. Smith meets criteria for:
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Major Depression
a. Briefly describe the client's strengths. Or briefly explain the way in which the client has manifested resilience throughout their life. Discuss the importance of client's religion or spirituality, if applicable.
b. Describe two of the client's treatment goals. The client's treatment goals should stem from the problems under discussion. Please see the chapter on goals in the course tools section. Goals should be one sentence each and should be measurable. Only describe two treatment goals.
Part C: Interpersonal Interaction (no more than three-quarters of a page)
How does the client interact with you during sessions or during your contacts with them? How does this help you to understand how they interact with others, or the way in which others react to them? This should be based upon what you believe might have developed as a result of parenting styles and maneuvering behaviors and attachment issues.
Part D: Engagement (no more than 1 page)
Describe the role of the holding environment in the engagement process. First, define the holding environment and briefly discuss the clinical/developmental theories underlying this intervention. Second, discuss why the holding environment is necessary for engaging and establishing a therapeutic alliance with your client. The discussion should be specific to your client-DO NOT discuss the material in a general way. Again based upon attachment and maneuvering behaviors, what would you be looking out for in particular? This is a good place to cite literature that is not on the syllabus.
Part E: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) OR CBT-Related Interventions OR Interpersonal Intervention (no more than 4 pages)
PROVIDE SPECIFIC EXAMPLES. Do NOT discuss the interventions in a general way. Relate the interventions to the client's problem. This section should include literature that is in support of your use of the intervention.
Part F: Professional Use of Self (no more than 1 page)
Describe how countertransference (biases and judgments) influenced-or could have influenced-the development and maintenance of the therapeutic relationship. Did you need to modify your practice in any way?
Format your assignment according to the give formatting requirements:
a. The answer must be double spaced, typed, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
b. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the course title, the student's name, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
c. Also include a reference page. The references and Citations should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.