Therapeutic Orientations

Imagine that your friend, John Ineedhelp, has approach you asking for advice in selecting a psychotherapist to work with him on his severe depression which has virtually incapacitated him for the last 8 months.  You have learned the following facts about him so far:

• His father died when he was 3 years old and his mother never remarried.  She is a strong, self-sufficient woman how does not want to compromise in order to get along with a husband.  She is perfectly happy alone.
• John is 28 and lives in an apartment attached to his mother’s house.
• John always imagined he would be a very successful salesman, selling big ticket items like cars or furniture.  His first two sales jobs were only slightly successful, and he was actually fired from the first.  He left the second job voluntarily because of continued conflicts with his supervisor.  He has been unsuccessful in obtaining a new position.
• John is convinced that he will never get the kind of job he wants because he is not the “successful type.”  Every additional job he does not get seems to John to be additional evidence that he will not succeed in the world.  When asked if there is another type of position which might suit him better, John replies that there is nothing else he can think of that he’d like to do.
• Further discussion reveals that John suspects he does not present himself well in interviews.  He says he realizes his attitude may be somewhat obvious because he just cannot convince himself that he has anything to offer prospective employers.

Everyone should read Topic 15: Therapeutic Orientations via the link in your eLearn course or the printed NOBA textbook (pp. 364-375), AND especially the short section on Pharmacological Treatments on page 374.

Also, based on the team you’ve been assigned to this term, you should read the following section:

• Groups A and E: Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic: pages 365-367.
• Groups B and D: Humanistic/Person-Centered: pages 367-368.
• Groups C and F: Cognitive-Behavioral: pages 368-371.
• Group G: Acceptance and Mindfulness-Based Approaches, pages 371-373.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS FOR CLASS ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1
(we will be doing an ACTIVITYin class based on your answers):

1. Which aspects of John’s problem would be of most interest to a therapist with your viewpoint?
2. What does your approach say is the cause of John’s problem?
3. What kind of treatment is appropriate for John, given your approach?
4. Do you think a therapist of your type could really help John?  Why or why not?
5. Would you recommend any pharmacological treatments for John in combination with talk therapy?  If so, which ones, and why?  If not, why not?

QUESTIONS ARE REPEATED ON BACK WITH SPACE TO ANSWER THEM ————————————-à

YOUR NAME: ________________________________________________________

1. Which aspects of John’s problem would be of most interest to a therapist with your viewpoint?

2. What does your approach say is the cause of John’s problem?

3. What kind of treatment is appropriate for John, given your approach?

4. Do you think a therapist of your type could really help John?  Why or why not?

5. Would you recommend any pharmacological treatments for John in combination with talk therapy?  If so, which ones, and why?  If not, why not?