Case Study Assignment Instructions
Overview
Each Case Study Assignment is an APA style formatted, 3–5-page assignment designed to help you apply the course content including understanding the DSM-5-TR to a fictional case example. This will not require an abstract. You will need a minimum of 7 peer reviewed scholarly resources, one of these may be the course textbook. All resources need to be less than 10 years old. The 3 pages exclude the title page and reference page.
In this Case Study Assignment, you will have the opportunity to think through a clinical case, identify and prioritize key imperative issues involved, consider and clarify relevant diagnostic issues, provide at least one assessment to substantiate the diagnosis and formulate beginning treatment recommendations. This Case Study Assignment will directly apply to your future course work in diagnosis and treatment planning which is also included in field experience classes.
Be sure to review the Case Study Grading Rubric and the Case Study Template before beginning this Case Study Assignment.
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.
Instructions
For this assignment you will read the case study then generate a report that uses the assignment template.
INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE STUDY (1-2 statements) introducing the case.
Client Concerns
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Biological factors
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Psychological
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Social/Cultural
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Spiritual
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Physical symptoms, for example: Past and present |
Ideas thoughts Past and present |
Family systems Relationships with others Cultural elements Past, present |
Religious and spiritual aspects of
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Trouble sleeping |
hopelessness |
Early parent relationships avoidant |
Attends church weekly |
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Headaches |
Ongoing worry and ruminating |
Loss of colleagues when retired |
Would like to explore more prayer time and |
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Muscle tension |
Fear of things bad happening |
Divorced |
Grew up with mother who used religion “against |
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Genetic predisposition with parent with |
Sees the world as glass half empty |
Adheres to strict animal |
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Each section should be separated by the appropriate APA headings (Level 1, Level 2…)
Client Concerns
Using a table as in the example above, complete each column to identify and list the client’s symptoms and any other key issues/concerns noted. (Modify the chart size as needed). For example, these include biological, psychological, social, and/or spiritual problems. If symptoms/behaviors overlap, you only need to list them once.
Assessment
Provide at least one assessment that will be used to substantiate the diagnosis you chose — a valid assessment that a counselor can use. (Note this means it has high reliability and validity for the sample population you are hoping to administer it to). Please be sure to cite support for the assessment tool you use by using one peer reviewed journal article to reference your choice of assessment. Give a short (3-5 sentences) overview of the assessment, what it would help you learn about the client, and why you chose it over other assessments (for example: Beck Depression Inventory: identifies clinical depression, strong research base, its internal consistency (around 0.9) indicates that the items relate to each other and measure the same construct. Test-retest reliability ranges from 0.73 to 0.92, suggesting consistent scores over time. It is also short, easy to administer and score).
Diagnostic Impression
Provide the primary diagnostic impression based upon the DSM-5-TR. Be sure to use the full code and full name for each diagnosis. Start with an introduction statement or two as illustrated below as an example. Be sure to consider secondary disorders in addition to the primary disorder. Is there more than one diagnosis? Provide the following for all diagnoses.
Signs and Symptoms
List the signs (client’s report) in the right hand column of the chart and link them directly to the symptoms (criteria you find in the DSM-5-TR) in the left hand column of the chart form (example below) to make sure you have linked every client symptom to every DSM-5-TR symptom. This is supported to substantiate your choice for diagnosis. Be sure to adjust the size of the table accordingly. If there are client reported signs that do not fall into the DSM-5-TR diagnosis, make note that you considered them, but they did not align with the DSM-5-TR.
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DSM-5-TR |
Client’s |
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Criterion |
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Criterion |
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Criterion |
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Criterion |
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Criterion |
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Criterion |
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Other DSM-5 Conditions Considered
List other DSM-5-TR conditions you considered and the process you went through to decide they were not the correct diagnosis. For example: “The client reported three symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder, but five symptoms are needed for this diagnosis, so the disorder was ruled out.”
Developmental Theories and/or Systemic Factors
Consider a developmental or systemic perspective as you conceptualize your client. For example: “What stage is the client in within Eriksons Stages of Developmental theory?” or “What is occurring within the client’s family system that may be influencing the client’s current functioning or behavior?”
Multicultural Competencies and Considerations
Discuss multicultural considerations that may be relevant to your client. For example, what would the client say about their symptoms/situation from their cultural point of view? How might you apply cultural competencies in your understanding of the client? Cite one peer reviewed counseling source to support your point.
Treatment Recommendations
Key Issues for Treatment
· In bullet point form, identify the top 2-3 symptoms/issues you believe are imperative to the client in the case study. Be sure to list in order of importance. For example, 1. Suicidal ideation 2. Extreme anxiety/depression symptoms such as X, Y, Z
3. Interpersonal distress regarding relationships with immediate family
· The goal here is to clearly delineate what you believe is most time sensitive to address to be of support to the client.
Recommendations for Counseling
Identify two evidenced based treatment recommendations for counseling based on the 2-3 key issues you identified. For example, if you are seeing crisis symptoms, what theory is identified in the literature as best practices for Crisis Intervention Counseling that you might choose? If you see anxiety symptoms, what theoretical evidenced based theory and or interventions might be best suited to support the client?
You will need to cite these recommendations using peer-reviewed journal articles, focusing on the treatments a counselor would provide. Consider if a medication referral or medication evaluation is recommended and if so, support why you believe this to be the case with peer reviewed scholarly citation.
Specific Considerations
For each case study you will have additional critical thinking points to consider. You will need to provide one paragraph responding to the question assigned to each case that corresponds with the list below. In your response to these questions, address how these considerations affected your diagnostic impression and your treatment recommendations.
Amara – Case Study 1:
What additional information would you need about her culture and why? What kinds of values conflicts might you experience due to the client’s culture? How would you manage your personal values while working with this client?
Sam – Case Study 2:
How does a client in crisis change the focus of your assessment and treatment planning? What suicide assessment tool would be best to use with her given ethical and legal requirements counselors have?
Jeff – Case Study 3:
How do multiple diagnoses affect the decision-making process for diagnostic impressions and treatment planning? How does a substance use disorder affect the process of diagnostic impressions and the order you make treatment recommendations? What are unconscious or conscious biases to consider when you are personally working with Jeff?
Theo – Case Study 4:
How does the clients experience of a triggering event inform your conceptualization process? How might you collaborate with this client when treatment planning? What are some barriers you might encounter in the treatment planning process with this client and how might you address those barriers?
Victor– Case Study 5:
How might the client’s age affect diagnosis and treatment recommendations? What kind of consideration must be made for the family system and how does it impact your entire conceptualization of the client?