Case Analysis Paper: In no more than 5 pages, discuss how a provided case can be understood and treated from a particular theoretical orientation. Choose one of the theoretical approaches addressed in class thus far. Your paper should be written in APA style, 12-point font, doublespaced. In your paper please address the following: (also see separate sheet attached to this course
outline for grading rubric).
1. What are the clients’ problems?
2. Explain how the theory chosen explains the development and manifestation of the problem?
3. In line with your chosen theory, what would be your general approach to working with this client?
What specific techniques would you use?
4. Keep in mind that the purpose of the paper is to demonstrate your knowledge of a particular theory
and your ability to apply it in practice.
PLEASE SEE CASE BELOW
Option A: Jose
Identifying Information: Jose is a 15 year-old boy of Puerto Rican parentage who lives with his mother in lower Manhattan. Jose’s parents were never married. His father, who lives in New Jersey, use to stay with Jose and his mother for weeks at a time but does not do so anymore due to a deterioration in the relationship between he and Jose’s mother. Jose attends high school in Manhattan where he is in an integrated regular education class. His mother, who receives public Helpance and does not work outside of the home,
supports him financially. Jose receives SSI benefits for a speech and hearing impairment.
Presenting Problem: Jose was first brought to treatment by his mother, who complained of Jose’s daily tantrums, distractibility, hyperactivity and anxious behaviors (i.e., biting fingernails and toenails until they bled). Jose had significant expressive and receptive language delays, and received counseling and speech services at school. At the time of his admission to the clinic, Jose was provisionally diagnosed with ADHD mixed type (rule out Oppositional Defiant Disorder) and Mixed Receptive and Expressive Language
Disorder. Since then, Jose has been diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder NOS and Mild Intellectual Disability. Currently, his mom complains primarily of Jose’s oppositional behavior at home and his questionable placement in an integrated classroom given his cognitive difficulties. Also of concern to his mom and Jose are issues related to his entrée into adolescent development.
Background Information: Jose is an only child. Jose’ parents had been dating for three weeks when his mother, then 26 years old, became pregnant with Jose. His father was 20 years old the time. They stayed together until seven months into the pregnancy, at which point they broke up. For a brief time, Jose’s father denied that Jose was his child. The couple reunited when Jose was approximately a year old, and the family lived together in New Jersey. Jose’s mother reports that they had a volatile relationship, and that Jose’s
father was physically abusive towards her – but not towards Jose– during the year they lived together. At the end of that year, when their living situation proved to be financially and emotionally untenable, they separately moved back home with their mothers. For the next several years, Jose’s father was an infrequent presence in Jose’s life, sending him gifts at holidays and on his birthday, and visiting him on rare occasions. During a visit when Jose was six years old, Jose’s parents had a fight, after which point Jose’s dad left the house and stayed away for the next five years. Jose’s dad unexpectedly contacted
the family two years ago, and has been a more regular feature of Jose’s life. Although he lives with his mother he stays with Jose and his mother for weeks at a time every few weeks. This has not happened in the past few months. According to Jose’s mother, Jose’s father has had great difficulty maintaining a job, and she believes that he suffers from a learning disability. She indicates that Jose’s father has great difficulty communicating and expressing himself, which at times is frustrating to Jose.Both Jose and his mother appear to be conflicted about their feelings toward Jose’s father. Jose expresses both a desire to have regular contact with his father, and also states that he knows his father never wanted him, and that he thinks it might be best if his mother stops trying to contact him. Jose’s mom has reported harboring resentment toward Jose’s father for “abandoning” Jose for so many years, and for denying paternity
when he was first born, yet she would like him to be in Jose’s life, and it is unclear how she feels about his presence in her life.
Jose’s mom has a history of panic symptoms and claustrophobia, which become acute, when she rides in elevators. Jose’s mom expressed a concern that Jose may have inherited these symptoms, as Jose was also having panic symptoms in elevators. The two of them often walk up the seven flights of stairs to their apartment in order to avoid the elevator. Up until several months ago Jose was sleeping in the same room with his mother. Jose’s extended family on his mother’s side includes her grandmother, two uncles, one aunt, and five cousins. Many of these relatives live in close proximity to Jose and his mother, and Jose often plays with his cousins. They report close family connections. Jose does not have extensive contact with his extended family on his father’s side.
