Counselling and Psychology

Counseling Psychology

A Case Study

Richard is a 44 year old man who has been refereed to our agency for counseling by his doctor . Richard 's doctor believes he has a major drinking problem . Counseling sessions with Richard will be conducted in separate categories of psychodynamic and cognitive behavioural paradigms . The case study will help Richard and his counselors develop specific prevention , intervention , and treatment resources

Psychodynamic Paradigm

Psychodynamics is defined as , the mental and emotional process underlying human behavior and its motivation , esp . as developed unconsciously in response

to environmental influences (Webster 's 1982 br

. 1147 . In other words , psychodynamics is predominately concerned with unconscious conflict , until Erik Erikson came along . Erikson , a Neo-Freudian , came up with his own theory of development in psychodynamics called psychosocial (Funder 1997 ,

. 270 . Erikson 's theory of psychosocial stages expands on Freud 's psychosexual stages as the basis of unconscious conflicts . Moreover , Erikson believes that the ego does not just mediate between id impulses and superego demands . It is also a positive force in development . At each stage , it acquires attitudes and skills that make the individual an active contributing member of society (Berk 2001 , 17 . Thus , Ericson postulates the not all differences occur in the unconscious area of the mind - many conflicts are conscious

Richard has many identifiable unconscious and conscious conflicts going on in his mind . When a doctor announces that you have a drinking problem , the accused usually does not agree with the diagnosis . But when a professional mental health worker illustrates a number of specific factors that identify alcohol as a disease , the drinker begins to believe their problem is real . If you want to convince an alcoholic that they have a problem , you must get passed their denial . In addition , if the worker wants to treat the alcoholic , a problem has to be acknowledged by the drinker

My first step is to conduct an open-ended interview with Richard 's father . The premise for this interview is to gather as much information on Richard as possible to gauge the truthfulness of his story and to see if there is any family history of drinking problems . Richard 's father agrees that he may be to blame for the abandonment of Richard at the age of ten , but accepts no responsibility for Richard 's drinking problem or interpersonal relationship failures . Next , I got Richard 's previous medical records sent to me so I could go over his past case history . I ed medical tests and an MRI to see if Richards liver , kidneys , or brain function has been damaged by the drinking . Finally , I sat down with Richard for his interview . During the interview I notice Richard is trying to project his problems on others instead of taking responsibility for his actions . Richard denies he has a drinking problem and blames his inconsistent behavior on depression . I allowed Richard to free associate ' the rest of his story to me . The prodromal stages leading up to the numerous disruptions in Richard...