Theoretical Perspective Conceptualization - Case Study Example

? Theoretical Perspective Conceptualization Adlerian theories conceptualize Thelma’s difficulties in life as stemming from her childhood experiences of emotional and physical abuse. The problems she faces have been compounded by the family and employment difficulties she has faced in the cause of her life I. Actual Core Issues Thelma suffers emotional/spiritual pain and anger from sexual trauma and the emotional abuse from her mother and childhood years in general. She is also facing difficulty forgiving her mother, which make her feel angry, guilty and grief. The treatment she got at her work place where she faced racism and hurtful experiences increases Thelma’s feelings of depression, anxiety, and abandonment. Therefore, Thelma seeks to be liberated from her feelings of anger, guilt, grief depression, anxiety, and abandonment. II. Theory-Based Description of the Underlying Causes of the Presenting Concerns From an Adlerian perspective, in the context of Thelma’s family constellation she was not able to achieve a place of significance given that she grew up in foster care without having a family and home during her childhood years. Since spent her childhood years in foster care, Thelma believes her parents were immersed in their own problems and neglected her. Her feelings of inferiority are apparent since she feels she was not able to help her mother solve her marital problems, which made Thelma’s mother hate her. Based on her subjective conclusions and private logic, Thelma feels abandoned by her company just as her family did during her childhood years. Being from African American community, Thelma believes her social embeddedness is what has caused her problems at the work place where she was racially discriminated. III. Key Issues Thelma needs to change her style of life, which will enable her change the flavor of her life. She needs a change in the way she handles her personal goal, feelings for others, self-concept, and attitude toward the world. Thorough adoption of a flexible perception of herself and the world (Day, 2008), Thelma will be able to accept her past and move on from the sexual abuse and emotional abuse by her mother. Thelma should be encouraged to move from her since of inferiority by moving towards psychological health through adoption of useful style of life. She should not let the racism and frustration at the work place subdue her efforts at becoming a better person. Thelma should also be guided not to retreat from her social life and continue to be active in all her communal responsibilities. Important techniques to address various psychological problems affecting Thelma include asking the question technique. This involves asking Thelma how different her life would be if she had not faced all her problems during childhood and in the work place. The acting "as if" technique, which involves instructing the client to behave like there were no problems is useful in handling Thelma’s issues. The other important technique in solving Thelma’s problems is Task setting which consists of helping her set some short-­term goals as a basis that would lead her toward the attaining her long-term (Adler, 2013) IV. Strengths and Weaknesses: The goal for Adlerian counseling is to help a client lead healthy holistic life style (Adler, 2013). Thelma will benefit from this holistic assessment of her life from childhood to her current situation therefore; the theory is better placed to handle Thelma’s psychological needs. Thelma has a problem that ranges from feeling of neglect during childhood, poor relationship with her mother, racial abuse to financial hardship due to her injuries and lack of compensation. Since the theory is action oriented, Thelma will benefit from the challenge to turn her insights into action in the real world. The theory presents useful tips that will enable Thelma move on from the pain and grief her mother put her through by channeling her energy towards a healthy psychological health through setting personal goals that she will set during and achieve after her therapy sessions (Ferguson, 2000). By use of these techniques, Thelma will realize she is her own expert in the problems that she has (Day, 2008). Further, Thelma will benefit from the encouragement technique employed in the Adlerian psychotherapy. The application of the theory during counseling will increase Thelma’s ability to deal with her life tasks. Encouragement will help Thelma reorient her feelings and perceptions towards her family, work and have a positive attitude towards life Although, Thelma will benefit from the holistic approach to her issues, the Adlerian psychotherapy does not provide diagnostic treatment. Part of her problems might be stemming from her physical pains, which might not be healed by individual psychology. V. Why the Theoretical Perspective Fits the Clients: Alder’s individual psychology offers the best therapy for Thelma’s problems. This theoretical perspective fits Thelma’s situation it goes beyond presentation of concerns at face value. The theory is based on the assumptions that these concerns by the client are symptoms of other deep-seated problems that somehow have a relation to experiences that happened some years back dating from the childhood life of the person (Carlson, Watts & Maniacci, 2006). In this way, the theory seeks to solve the client’s problems by going back to events that happened during the time her sense of self was being formed. In addition to assessing her problems through a developmental perspective, the theory covers the social context in which Thelma was brought up with the objective of finding out the influence of society on how she perceives herself. As a result, Thelma will benefit from a holistic analysis into her life (Slavik & Croake, 2001). VI. Relevant Research Examining Counseling Treatment within Theoretical Approach: Sweeney, Myers, and Stephan (2006) apply early recollections to present the use of both Adlerian theory, methods of Developmental Counseling and Therapy assessment within the context of an Adlerian intervention. This research highlights how developmental counseling used together with early recollections can help in the process of helping clients examine and find meaning in their childhood memories. The researchers found listening to the client's explanation of early recollections using Developmental Counseling and Therapy while paying attention to their cognitive styles protocol questions, the counselor can involve the client in revealing fictive notions. Therefore, methods that help clients uncover their childhood experiences can facilitate speedy ownership of both his and her life dilemma, which consequently results in the client facing available solutions with courage and greater empowerment. Looking back at her formative years will help Thelma tackle her issues concerning family neglect and sexual abuse that she suffered while in foster care. In their study, Schumm, Stines, Hobfoll, and Jackson, (2005) assessed how a history of sexual and physical abuse during childhood could serve as indicators of a person’s reactions to stressful situations in their adulthood life when adaptive resources are lost. Additionally, the researchers hypothesized that these resource losses to deal with every day events would serve as a catalyst for increased chances of manifesting Posttraumatic stress symptoms and its severity levels. For this study, Schumm et al., 2005 used as sample 176 women of European American and African American origins from low-income areas. The researchers hypothesized that child abuse positively predicted loss of resource to deal with events in life, which in turn affected the severity of posttraumatic stress. Further, it was hypothesized that women who reported frequent abuse during childhood would have a greater sensitivity for the effects of posttraumatic stress compared to those who reported less frequency of abuse during childhood. Through their empirical study, the researchers found support for their hypothesis that frequent abuse during childhood affected severity of posttraumatic stress during adulthood. References Adler, A. (2013). The science of living. New York: Routledge. The book offers a good synopsis of the notions and philosophies relating to of Adler's psychological theory Carlson, J., Watts, R. and Maniacci, M. (2006). Adlerian Therapy: Theory and Practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. This book compares Adlerian therapy with other forms of therapies as it seeks to explain how the concept has influenced the current practices Day, S. X. (2008). Theory and design in counseling and psychotherapy: 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. This book gives a comprehensive insight about the available and upcoming or emerging theoretical approaches using cases and other illustrative examples Ferguson, E. D. (2000). Individual Psychology is ahead of its time. Journal of Individual Psychology. 56, 14–20 This journal article explains the about the concepts and methods of the Adlerian and advocates for a culture change from individualism to cooperation for these concepts to be realized Schumm, J. A., Stines, L. R., Hobfoll, S. E., & Jackson, A. P. (2005). The double-barrelled burden of child abuse and current stressful circumstances on adult women: The kindling effect of early traumatic experiences. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 18(5), 467-476. This journal is a summary of a research done to assess the relationship between child physical and sexual abuse to women later stress exposure Slavik, S. and Croake, J. (2001). “Feelings and Spirituality: A Holistic Perspective.” The Journal of Individual Psychology, 57(4), 354-362. This journal seeks to illustrate and expound on the methods through which a person can manage his or her feelings to live a more fulfilled life and in thus defining the Adlerian theory of feelings Sweeney, T. J., Myers, J. E., & Stephan, J. (2006). Integrating developmental counseling and therapy assessment with Adlerian early recollections. Journal of Individual Psychology, 62(3), 251-269. This journal is a comprehensive summary of the benefits of developmental counseling and therapy –DCT and how it can be used to complement Adlerian theory Read More