Assessment and Treatment Plan

Case Study: Margarita part 2

Marquitta Horn

COUNC 5239

September 11, 2016

Mindy Heher

Case Study: Margarita part 2

      As a mental health counselor is it important that we focus on using the proper therapeutic approaches when working with our clients. While one approach may be successful with one particular client, the same approach may cause harm to another.  There are times when the use of multiple approaches at various stages of the counseling relationship may become necessary.  When a counselor completes the initial intake with a client, there may be feelings, thoughts, concerns and areas of distress that the client fails to divulge to the therapist because they are not yet comfortable with them.  This is normal, we as humans often feel insecure about expressing our thoughts, dreams and fears to a complete stranger, even if the individual is a trained professional.  But as the counseling relationship blossoms, the client/counselor begin to create a working relationship based on trust, honesty and compassion. As this relationship grows and the client begins to express more feelings and concerns, the need for changes in the therapeutic style can change.

           In regards to the case of Margarita, the use of new styles of therapy can be beneficial in helping Margarita continue to work on dealing with her issues and achieve the goals that she is wanting to set for herself.  Margarita and her counselor have developed a trusting and productive therapeutic relationship. Margarita is opening up even more to her therapist and has even begin to discuss goals that she would like to achieve to continue to improve her mental health as well as other aspects of her life.  Due to her cultural background, as a therapist you want to make sure that you can continue to provide culturally competent therapy for her as well as helping her continue to improve her mental health.

             Even though Margarita seems to have no concerns in regards to the cultural competence of the therapist or the therapy that is being provided, it is still crucial to be aware of the importance of multicultural counseling. Due to the progress that Margarita has made and considering the underlying issues that she is still dealing with and wanting to change, the use of other counseling approaches can help her continue to grow. Also considering the cultural background of Margarita as well as her husband, the use of multicultural counseling aligned with the use of postmodern therapy can be beneficial and effective in Margarita’s continuing therapeutic growth. (Sue, 2013) It is also important as a therapist to be able to utilize these two types of therapeutic approaches in a way that will be effective rather than cause Margarita to regress back to her previous behaviors.

MULTICULTURAL COUNSELING

              Multicultural counseling and therapy is defined as the understanding of worldviews and life experiences of diverse populations that make up our nation’s population.  As mental health counselors it is important to understand the history of discrimination and struggles that majorities have faced both in the past and in the present. Though many people see these stories of oppression as part of the past, many individuals of various cultures still face oppression on a daily basis.  What is even more troubling is that many mental health professionals also tend to ignore or disregard the struggles that their clients have been faced with. (Sue, 2013) As a mental health counselor it is important to remember that the services, treatments and support that they need to provide to their clients often go way beyond the standard definition of a mental health counselor. Advocacy and support are also important roles that are part of the duties of a mental health counselor. It is important for a counselor to be aware of the cultural belief system of the clients they are serving. In many cultures, there are certain belief systems in effect that a counselor needs to be aware of so that they do not offend or deny the client their rights to their culture when it comes to the therapeutic process.  A counselor is also held to an ethical code in regards to respecting the cultural beliefs and traditions of the clients they are serving. (Quinn, 2013)

POSTMODERN THERAPY

                 Postmodern therapy focuses on interpreting common beliefs and examining their value in an individual’s life. For example, postmodern therapists question the definition of “mental health” as well as commonly held beliefs such as the definition of success and what it means to be an adolescent or young adult. The relationship between patient and therapist focuses on being collaborative rather than authoritative. Change comes about primarily through open communication.  The three main types of postmodern therapy are: Narrative Therapy which evaluates a patient’s thoughts and behaviors in the context of their culture and the story they have written for themselves, Solution-Focused Therapy which is a short-term approach that focuses on creating solutions to problems rather than evaluating the root causes of those problems and Collaborative Language Systems that uses talk and collaboration to solve problems. Some of the benefits of using post-modern therapy is that it has been proven to dramatically reduce symptoms of mental health disorders.  Post-modern therapy has been proven beneficial in regards to stress reduction, improving a client’s insight and understanding, an effective tool in regards to conflict resolution and has been proven to give the client an overall greater sense of happiness and well-being.  The ultimate goal of post-modern therapies is that is gives the client a sense of empowerment because they feel more in control of the situation and it gives the therapist the opportunity to allow the client to explore areas of their lives or certain behaviors that they may otherwise ignore. The three main types of post-modern therapy are; Narrative therapy, Solution focused therapy and Collaborative Language Systems. (Corey,2013)

THE CASE OF MARGARITA PART 2

                  In regards to the case of Margarita there are several key issues that needs to be addressed.  It is important first to have an understanding of every aspect of Margarita’s life rather than merely focusing on the obvious.  Margarita has stated that she is ready to get the ball rolling and start focusing on her goals. The first step is to identify these specific goals. Margarita has stated that she wants to work on her anger issues and learn how to better communicate with her husband and hopefully reconnect again in an intimate way. Another goal that Margarita has identified is in regards to the social anxiety that she feels in social situations.  The last goal that Margarita has identified involves her being able to finally accept her friend’s death and be able to somehow gain some closure.  As a counselor working with Margarita it is also important to utilize multicultural counseling practices due to her ethnic background.  Though the issue has been brought up and Margarita has no complaints or concerns, it is still part of the therapeutic process to ensure that no lines are crossed.