Case Study Paper Assignment Instructions
Overview
You will complete a treatment plan based upon your recorded couple interview. The recording will be analyzed and then evaluated from one of the theoretical frameworks emphasized in this course (Gottman, EFT, or Solution-Focused). The student will use the theory as a guide for the development of a Treatment Plan. If need be, the student will impose a theoretical crisis onto the couple for the purpose of applying the theory to treatment. This could be a death in the family, an affair, or a major life stressor such as a job loss or foreclosure. The paper will be a minimum of 8 pages and a maximum of 14 pages of content. The paper will consist of the selected Theory overview, Case Conceptualization, to include diagnostic elements as well as clinical elements, a treatment plan based upon the selected theoretical model and a conclusion. The paper should be written entirely in third person. Be sure to have at least 8 scholarly sources.
Instructions
Specifically, the paper should be broken down into 6 sections: Introduction, Couple Introduction, Theory Overview, Case Conceptualization, Treatment Plan and Conclusion. These sections should address the following:
Couple Introduction – Introduce the couple giving relevant biographical information such as age, length of marriage, known family history, etc. This is an important section—think back the skills you’ve learned in previous classes; this needs to be a solid overview.
Theory overview – Introduce your theory and explain its approach to treatment in a “big picture” way identifying key concepts and goals. A good way to do this is to identify key terms used in the theory such as “sound relationship house” and briefly explain what it is and how it is used. If a theory has specific goals or stages, list them. This section should be no more than two pages in length so it would be helpful to not get into the “weeds” with certain concepts but to keep the big picture in mind. For example, you would want to address “How does this theory conceptualize problems in a marriage?” “What are its key components/stages?” “How is treatment done?” A strong understanding of the theory will most likely lead to strong application. A weak understanding of the theory will likely lead to all other sections of the paper being weak and the greatest chance of doing poorly on the paper. One helpful tip would be to seek out other sources and even videos of people discussing the theory you selected.
Case Conceptualization – Here you discuss the dynamics of the couple from your interview in relation to the theory (keeping their identities private—first names only). A good way to do this is to take the key concepts from your previous section and explain how your couple relates to those concepts. For example, if your theory has within it the concept of “friendship” as a conceptual and treatment goal explain how your couple maintains their friendship. This could be good or bad. Addressing this would be discussed in the Treatment planning section. If you chose to apply a theoretical crisis onto the couple you will note their presenting condition or chief complaint. In other words, what brings them into therapy? In this conceptualization you will list any assessments you will use. If you are applying a theoretical crisis to the couple then you could extrapolate what the results might be. Any extrapolation would need to be consistent with the couple’s dynamics from the interview. In other words, if you assume something onto the results, there should be some evidence of this in your interview. You may even find this material in your previous discussion boards where you were analyzing the couple interview in relation to the Gottman training. Going back to your interview paper may even be helpful! It would be allowed in this section to discuss any diagnosis or clinical elements that would relate to this crisis and this couple. For instance, if the couple struggled with depression in the past, this new stressor could trigger another episode. This section should be around four to 6 pages in length.
Treatment Plan – In this section you will identify a treatment strategy consistent with the theory you selected. Here you may summarize the overall treatment goals and apply techniques. This should be specific to the couple at hand and not overly generalized. This section should be between two and four pages in length. This section should be written in paragraph form and not like a bulleted treatment plan with “goals, objectives and interventions.”
Conclusion – In this section you will very briefly summarize the paper and comment on any concerns or thoughts you may have on the expected outcome of treatment and use of the theory with this couple. This section can be a half page to one full page of the paper.
Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.
