Summary Of Collaborative Assessment And Case Formulation

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) define counselling, along with psychotherapy, as being “umbrella terms that cover a range of talking therapies” (BACP, 2012: 1). In addition, counselling is provided by practitioners who “work with people over a short or long term to help them bring about effective change or enhance their wellbeing” (BACP, 2012: 1). Those who practice counselling in a professional manner undergo intensive training and personal development, the latter of which has been “defined in terms of self-awareness and change” (Wheeler, 1996: 75). These changes, according to Johns, “influence the

Constant assessment of the clients’ problems and cognitions is very important in evaluating if techniques are being effective. Often in the beginning there is an extensive interview process that can last several hours. This interview gives the therapist insight into the client’s past, what the current problems are, and client goals. The interview will allow the therapist to set up a structured plan for how the therapy will proceed.

 Solution focused therapy is a model of therapy developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg in the late 1970's (Dolan, n.d.). This model has become well known for its non-traditional approach to client problems as it does not explore clients issues in relation to their cause and affect but rather the goals and solutions to achieving a future free of any present issues. i will be discussing the evident concepts, principles and intervention techniques of this particular model. it will be explored in the context of a case scenario of a therapy session to observe how the model can be actively applied to therapy sessions and why this is the best model to meet the client's needs. The effectiveness of the model

Solution-focused therapy is different from narrative and collaborative therapy because it focuses more on discovering solutions to problems by asking miracle and scaling questions (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013). Solution-focused therapists utilize miracle and scaling questions to help clients change their thoughts and behavior. Miracle questions challenge clients to think about what their lives could be like if all their problems suddenly went away and were solved (Henderson & Thompson, 2016). Scaling questions challenge the client to magnify their view of the current circumstance (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013). Solution-focused therapy is also different from narrative and collaborative therapy because the counselor leads the counseling session. Counselors lay out clear expectations for their clients to change, and expect them to actively participate in counseling so change occurs. The third difference between the three approaches is that solution-focused therapy is complaint-based, while narrative and collaborative therapy is not (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013). Clients come to counseling with a complaint, and counselors typically work with those who ready and willing to change. Another difference is that solution-focused therapy consists of five steps, which are “co-constructing a problem and goal, identifying and amplifying exceptions, assigning tasks, evaluating effectiveness, and reevaluating problems and goals” (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2013, p. 382). Collaborative and narrative therapy do not follow these five

Allowing for our ethical codes of conduct, if the client is someone we feel we can proceed with, then as always, the first stage would be to develop a good rapport and gain the clients trust to develop an honest and open relationship with them. The client centred approach as always is the best method for this – to put the client at ease in a non-judgemental space where they can express their emotions and explore what it is they want to achieve with therapy. In giving the therapist an

I have recently undertaken client work as part of the academic requirement of this course and have experienced first-hand the important role which self-reflection plays when a client’s description of their problems, struck a similar chord within my own life. The identification of this set of maladaptive behaviours and rules of thought have only been identified and addressed due to participation of this Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Postgraduate Diploma and my initial work as a Trainee Therapist.

They both have a “positive view of human nature and view the individual as not necessarily being a product of their past experiences, but acknowledge that they are able to determine their own futures” (Holder, 2013). They both attempt to improve their client’s wellbeing by implementing a two-way therapeutic relationship where both client and therapist collaborate to enable the clients coping mechanisms (Holder, 2013). CBT and PCT both instil the three core conditions of empathy, unconditional positive regard and congruence but in CBT it is used mainly in the establishing of the working alliance (Holder, 2013). In both methods, the relationship between client and therapist is congruent and they both use the skills of reflection, paraphrasing and

This approach allows for a close relationship, which will foster trust, and will ensure that there is mutual understanding of the problem, and the best interventions in order to solve the problem (Henonin, 2010). This approach allows for the client to practice self-autonomy, by giving the client power over what interventions they believe will comprehensively solve the problem that is evident in their life (Henonin, 2010). Furthermore, the client and the social worker may have different understandings of the problem or circumstances that are taking place. Therefore, the first steps of the problem solving approach are crucial in fostering mutual understanding, in order to ensure that both the social worker and the client are on the same page before a proper intervention can be formulated (Henonin, 2010). Additionally, it is incredibly important that throughout the intervention, the social worker garners feedback, and performs “check-ups” with the client in order to ensure that the intervention is having a positive impact (Henonin, 2010). Performing routine check ups, ensures that interventions are working properly, and the client’s voice remains heard. Furthermore, routine check ups ensure that the social worker completely understands the problem at hand, and can be privy to any new information regarding the circumstances of the

Family therapy is a technique that has many alternative approaches to every aspect of treatment which Nichols (2014), states may present a challenge when describing a basic technique. The two models of family therapy in which I feel that I would be most effective and comfortable with would be, experiential family therapy and solution-focused brief therapy. I feel most comfortable with these models because, I adapt to the role of the therapist of both therapies naturally. According to Nichols (2014), when families seek therapy they are stuck in a life-cycle transition, sometimes they are obvious and sometimes they are not obvious. I’ve found that during the first session an excellent question is to ask the client why now so that they can

In clinical setting, the case formulation guides a therapist how to structure the sessions and by prioritising the client’s core problems, give rise to a plan and choice of intervention. Case formulation is an element of an empirical hypothesis testing approach to clinical work and has three main elements which are assessment, formulation and intervention. The process of case formulation starts with an unstructured ‘problem list’ (Persons, 1989), then proceeds to look for common themes which could suggest underlying beliefs, schemas and early life experiences. This supports CBT in standing up against criticisms made by psychodynamic theorists which states that CBT deals only with symptom reduction, having no underlying rationale (Persons et al., 1996).

With these attributes, they will have the fundamentals of creating a strong therapeutic alliance with their clients. The therapists should be encouraged in “treating new cases as unique and constructing new theories to fit them, rather than depending on categories of established theory and technique” (Safran & Muran, 2000). Although this does not mean that standard techniques are useless, flexibility and creativity in application of these theories is considered the most important skill of a good therapist.

Miesha is a 26-year-old African American female. She grew up in a single parent household in Collins, MS with her younger brother. Miesha’s mother worked two jobs and slept most of the time when she was at home. Miesha does know her biological father, however, he has been in and out of her life. Until the age of eighteen, Miesha regularly attended Our Kingdom Come Baptist Church, while living with her mother. Miesha is a high school graduate and is currently unemployed. She receives Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, Section 8 and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Miesha has two children, a son age 10 and a daughter age 5 by two different men. Miesha is not married; she is currently cohabitating with a man she has been dating for the past year. Miesha’s live in boy-friend sells drugs out of her home. Miesha states that he is mentally, verbally and physically abusive to her and has recently started being physically abusive towards her children.

“The goal of CBT is to teach clients how to separate the evaluation of their behaviour from the evaluation of themselves and how to accept themselves in spite of imperfections” (Corey, 2009, p. 279). In CBT the clients are expected to change their current behaviour (normally full of automatic thoughts) to a more rational way of thinking. The clinician will challenge the client’s behaviour in order for the client to understand his or her behaviour and get alternatives to change his/her behaviour. When using CBT, the client’s behaviour changes when they are aware of the abnormal behaviour. This approach allows the client to focus on improving his/her wellbeing. This enhances the client’s awareness of an existing issue and that changes are necessary. The client will develop new coping skills to deal with the situation and develop a new way of thinking from negative (automatic thoughts) to positive (more realistic thoughts). Initially the client may not recognise that a problem exists, but through this process will get

‘Clients often are able to provide a theory or an idea of cause, blaming past experiences for behaviors of which they are ashamed. The therapist listens to their explanations however are concerned more with their willingness to accept responsibility for their future behavior and the achievement for their attainable goals’ (Milner & O Byrne, P162). Furthermore, by ‘Acknowledging the clients paradoxical strategies have the effect of empowering clients of their perfectly valid cautious, more fearful concerns about change and leaving them to operate out of their arguments as to why change should be attempted’ (Cade, B. p156).

Collaborative efforts vis-à-vis case management is built upon strength based approaches to helping clients succeed. Each phase of the process is meant to foster the best possible outcome for the client. Effective communication, interviewing, and problem solving skills combined with knowledge and education, prepares helping professionals for their role in intervention. Accurate recordkeeping and documentation helps organize and identify any progress or regression when cases are reviewed. Integration, a guiding principle of case management, fosters effectiveness of services, and enhances service delivery (Woodside & McClam, 2014). Reasonable, client-centered goals and objectives must be clear, concise and measurable. Client participation is