Assignment: Individual vs Family CBT Assignment: Individual vs Family

Assignment: Individual vs Family CBT

Assignment: Individual vs Family CBT

ORDER NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT:Assignment: Individual vs Family CBT

Individual vs. Family CBT

Cognitive behavioral therapy is short-term psychotherapy that emphasizes the need for attitude change in order to maintain and promote behavior modification (Nichols, 2014). Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) has been found to be effective in a broad range of disorders. CBT can be done as an individual treatment or in a family setting. Individual CBT has a broadly defined framework with an emphasis on harm-reduction, especially with clients that have anxiety and substance abuse (Wheeler, 2014).

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for families is also brief and is solution-focused. Family CBT is focused on supporting members to act and think in a more adaptive manner, along with learning to make better decisions to create a friendlier, calmer family environment (Nichols, 2014). An example from practicum is a male (T.M) that participates in individual CBT once a week and family CBT once a week. T.M is struggling with alcoholism.

He originally presented for individual CBT because he had been “told by his wife” that he had a problem with alcohol. He reported that he drank “a few vodka drinks” three times a week but none for six weeks. Individual CBT therapy is a collaborative process between the therapist and client that takes schemas and physiology into consideration when deciding the plan of care (Wheeler, 2014). We worked with him using open-ended questions to assist with obtaining cognitive and situational information. He would become angry easily and it was a felt that he was not being truthful about his alcohol use. Each time he was questioned about it, the story would change. He attended two individual sessions and it was then recommended he begin family CBT with his significant other (S.M) because “things were not going well at home.”

With family CBT, cognitions, emotions, and behaviors are seen as having a mutual influence on one another (Nichols, 2014). The first session was stressful, to say the least. T.M began talking about his alcohol use. S.M interrupted and said, “what about that one-time last month at the hotel. You were seeing things.” He became defensive, raised his voice, and said, “I was drugged. It had nothing to do with drinking.” She then looked down and was tearful. When he left the room to use the bathroom, S.M questioned if he could be tested for alcohol. This led the therapist to believe that T.M’s last use was not six weeks ago.

T.M’s automatic thoughts were that his alcoholism was not a problem in the marriage or in life. One of the core principles in using CBT for SUDs is that the substance of abuse serves as a reinforcement of behavior (McHugh et al., 2010). Over time, the positive and negative reinforcing agents become associated with daily activities. CBT tries to decrease these effects by improving the events associated with abstinence or by developing skills to assist with reduction (McHugh et al., 2010).

It was noticed that when T.M was alone, his stories would change. But when his wife was in the room, he would look at her while he spoke to ensure what he was saying was accurate. The therapist informed the client that it would be appropriate to continue individual therapy and family CBT once a week with the recommendation of joining the ready for change group. The CBT model for substance use states that, when a person is trying to maintain sobriety or reduce substance use, they are likely to have a relapse (Morin et al., 2017).

Ready for change meetings was recommended because like this week’s media showed, clients may relate to others that are going through similar situations. Getting T.M to realize that his alcohol use is a problem, is the primary goal currently. This example was shared because it shows the difficulties that may be encountered with psychotherapy and that both individual and family may be needed to ensure that goals are met. Some challenges that counselors face when using CBT in the family setting are wondering if the structure of the session and if the proper techniques were effective (Ringle et al., 2015). Evaluating and consulting with peers may also assist with meeting client and family goals.

References

McHugh, R. K., Hearon, B. A., & Otto, M. W. (2010). Cognitive behavioral therapy for substance use disorders. The Psychiatric clinics of North America, 33(3), 511-25. doi:10.1016/j.psc.2010.04.012

Morin, J., Harris, M., & Conrod, P. (2017, October 05). A Review of CBT Treatments for Substance Use Disorders. Oxford Handbooks Online. Ed. Retrieved fromhttp://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935291.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935291-e-57.

Nichols, M. (2014). The essentials of family therapy (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Patterson, T. (2014). A Cognitive-Behavioral Systems Approach to Family Therapy. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 25(2), 132–144. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1080/08975353.2014.910023

Ringle, V. A., Read, K. L., Edmunds, J. M., Brodman, D. M., Kendall, P. C., Barg, F., & Beidas, R. S. (2015). Barriers to and Facilitators in the Implementation of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Youth Anxiety in the Community. Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.), 66(9), 938-45. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201400134

Wheeler, K. (Ed.). (2014). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how-to

guide for evidence-based practice. New York, NY: Springer.

POST 2

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is one of the most effective psychotherapy approaches, whether it be used in group, family, or individual treatment. It is important to understand the purpose of it what its process consists off. It can be used to treat different mental health conditions, ranging from addiction to more severe illnesses. Its approach is to work with the patient into strategizing ways to change unhealthy thoughts and behaviors. Throughout the process, the patient not only learns solving skills, but also to re-evaluate and learn how to understand other’s perspectives, skill that helps build their confidence.

Some believe group therapy is more effective than individual therapy, as established by Kellett, Clarke, and Matthews (2007, p. 211). It has been established that CBT in general can be effective, but based on the Johnson Family Session video, it leads me to believe that either group/family or individual would be effective depending on the condition that is being treated. It is clear from the video that the girl who had been sexually assaulted at the fraternity does not believe talking or sharing her experience, even if it is with other girls who went through the same experience, will help in any way. She still has some internal issues that need to be addressed individually in order to make progress and get her to a place where she can participate in group/family therapy with an awareness that it will help her and purpose to it. Another important aspect of having a client be committed to the treatment is that research has showed “Poor compliance can adversely affect the remaining group members who may become worried or insecure” (Söchting, Lau, Ogrodniczuk, 2018, p. 185).

An example during practicum that supports my belief is the case of a terminally ill patient who had been recommended comfort care through hospice. She was ready to do so, understood and accepted her prognosis, but her daughters and husband were in denial. Every time they participated in a family session the patient held back on her wishes and verbalized whatever their wishes were as if they were her own. When treated as an individual client, she would express her concerns of not being able to “disappoint and abandon my family”. She had suffered all her life from anxiety, insecurities, severe depression, and low self-esteem. Those were issues that should have been addressed individually before she could fully engage in a family session in a healthy and productive way, if she would’ve had the time. CBT would have still been the choice of treatment for individual therapy for this client, as evidenced by Driessen et al. who stated it “is the psychotherapy method with the best evidence-base in the treatment of depression” (2017, p. 654). Not being fully engaged in the program, or believing the treatment will not help, or having other issues that need to be addressed on an individual basis, are all challenges presented in a family setting when relying on CBT.

References

Kellett, S., Clarke, S., & Matthews, L. (2007). Delivering Group Psychoeducational CBT in

Primary Care: Comparing Outcomes with Individual CBT and Individual

Psychodynamic-Interpersonal Psychotherapy. British Journal of Clinical Psychology,

46(2).

Söchting, I., Lau, M., & Ogrodniczuk, J. (2018). Predicting Compliance in Group CBT Using the

Group Therapy Questionnaire. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 68(2).

Driessen,E., Van, H. L., Peen, J., Don, F. J., Twisk, J. W. R., Cuijpers, P., & Dekker, J. J. M.

(2017). Cognitive-Behavioral Versus Psychodynamic Therapy for Major Depression:

Secondary Outcomes of a Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of Consulting Clinical

Psychology, 85)7).

Assignment: Individual vs Family CBT

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.