A Behavior Cognitive Approach - Essay Example

Week 7-22 -- Discussion A behavior cognitive approach with Aaron would be very important because it would deal directly with Aarons behavior. Aarons life is about lists at this point and a behavior cognitive approach would help him to look at these lists to decide which ones were the most important. He would also have to look at the significance of the lists in his life and how they may be prohibiting from truly living. The biggest focus would be to alleviate symptoms that he is having. As an example, he could have underlying anxiety that would make him keep his lists. There is something about the relationship with his mother that may give the therapist a clue as to why he is feeling so anxious. This type of approach is also flexible, so it could be changed as needed and Aaron could start feeling relief immediately. Because behavior therapy brings the family into sessions to reinforce the learning, this may be a good time to bring his mother in to help her help him. The "high standards" and "high expectations" are an interesting point that Aaron makes which could be talked about within the family sessions. Behavior therapy keeps the person centered the "now" moment so Aaron would not be looking into the past in this type of approach. This could be both a strength and a limitation. The strength is that he is forced to look at things now. The limitation is that he may not be able to get to the meat of why his lists are so important if there is something to do with his mother. Because Aaron is exhibiting obsessive compulsive behaviors, it could be to his benefit to talk about how these lists originated (Laureate Education, Inc, 2007). However, another strength is the fact that his obsessive behavior does not seem to be getting in the way of his lifestyle. He is maintaining a B+ average, he is employed as a pizza delivery person. The limitation in this is that he does not have friends and he does not do anything other then running. Aaron could be an Introvert by nature which would mean that not having a lot of friends is the way he likes it. Another question comes up that could be a limitation for Aaron. Usually there is a motivation for the individual to change when they go to this type of therapy. Aaron is being sent to therapy by his primary care physician. This could be a limitation in that he really does not see anything wrong with his behavior, does not see a reason to change it, and therefore may not be the best candidate to actually work through his issues. This would be something the therapist could question at the beginning of therapy so that they would know the attitude that Aaron is coming to therapy with and how this will affect him as he goes through the process. Aarons anxiety could also be changed within cognitive therapy. Since he has anxiety whenever he forgets something on his list, the therapist could help him find different ways to deal with his anxiety and could possibly help him see that it was not important to miss something on his list. Of course, this would depend on Aarons attitude going into therapy. If he is motivated to change, this could be a strength; if he is not, then his anxiety could be a limitation. Another limitation for Aaron may have to do with the therapist. If the individual is not trained or skilled in the use of behavior therapy, Aaron may not benefit from it. The therapist would have to be interviewed to make sure that they had what was needed to help Aaron. Week 7-22 Discussion 2 Aaron B. is a very good candidate for Cognitive behavior therapy because his presenting problem is something to be diminished. In his case he seems to be presenting obsessive compulsive behavior because of the many lists he keeps. Aaron does not seem to have a life other than his lists. Aaron needs to have relief from his symptoms which means he will need to change the way he looks at his lists. Because the therapist can immediately help him get some relief, CBT seems to be a very good choice. The specific strengths of this method is that it gives Aaron a chance for quick relief, it is flexible and there are ways that the family can be brought in to help (Geyer interview). One of the limitations is that we would not get deeply into problems or dwell in the past. Hopefully Aaron wants to change some of his behaviors or another limitation of this therapy could be that the motivation is not there or his motivation may not be what the therapist thinks it should be which goes back to flexibility. Culturally the therapist must take into account that Aaron is Jewish and some of what he has learned may be due to his Jewish heritage. However, we do not know how much Aaron identifies with being Jewish or being Syrian. It is also important to know if his culture impacts him in any way. Also, it may be interesting to find out how his mother has acculturated into the mainstream society because this would be an indication of what she expects from Aaron in his heritage. This may or may not have an impact on his own idea or acceptance of his heritage. Aaron may have some challenges with male body image which means he may need to eventually address this area. Some of this could be related to being a teen and wanting to always "look good" at that age. Some students would have difficulty dealing with their looks and this could be the case for Aaron (Laureate Education, Inc.). The overall therapeutic goal for Aaron would be to help him develop different behaviors instead of so many lists. I would have the goal to eliminate some of his lists over time. Confidentiality would be one ethical issue because he is only 17 and his mother may want to know more than we are able to tell. The therapist would also want to make sure that Aaron understood what it would mean if he was going to hurt himself or someone else. I could see that this could happen if Aaron had problems stopping his behavior and in some ways was upset about what was going on. In the beginning of our relationship, as the therapist I would want to know as much as possible about Aaron. I would want to know how closely he was with his heritage and I would also want to know what the meaning of his lists were for him. The goal as I said would be to resolve some of the behavior ad lesson his stress. Aaron would have to come to terms with his lists and any behavior that was hurting him. He would need to understand the goals of this therapy and how to develop more positive behaviors (Corey, 2009, p. ). He would also need to be motivated to do work outside of the session. Strategies I would use would be active listening, reinforcing what he says, building rapport and making sure that he totally understood what he was doing and why. I would also use homework (though I would not call it this) to help him work with his lists. As an example, I might ask him to narrow one of his lists to start (without starting a new list) and then to talk about how that felt as he was doing this in the next session. References Corey, G. (2009). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole. Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2007). Program Number 6: Case Study: A CBT/Behavioral Therapy Perspective [Motion Picture]. In Walden University: Counseling and Psychotherapy Theories. Baltimore: Author. Read More