Case Study: Olivia
Olivia is a 33-year-old biracial (African American and White) cisgender female. She has three children ages 9, 6, and 18 months who all live with her in a two-bedroom rental home. Currently she is separated from her husband, Miles, who is a White cisgender male. They are in a lengthy and emotional court battle over her request for a divorce. Miles is suing her for custody of their children. Olivia states that he has “a drinking problem” and at times has been physically and verbally violent, none of which has been reported.
Olivia has her associate degree in cosmetology, but because Miles has been
financially successful, she has not sustained meaningful employment since the birth of
their first child and instead has focused on being a stay-at-home mother. She presents
to counseling for symptoms of anxiety and depression. She is still nursing her 18-
month-old, reports sleeping 2-4 hours per night, and wakes up feeling exhausted. She
repeatedly dreams she is falling down a large hole in the ground, but she never hits the
bottom. She wakes up sweating and feeling panicked. Her food intake mainly consists
of fast-food meals and eating leftovers from what she fixes for her kids, but often she
skips meals during the day and engages in binges on foods like potato chips and
miniature candy bars late at night. She seldom leaves the home, which is kept dark
much of the time. She reports she has a short temper with her children and often
experiences feelings of guilt about her divorce, and “not being good enough” as a mom.
She reports feeling lonely, isolated, and has a desire to “be loved by someone who
understands and cares about me.” She reports that she grew up attending Church, but has not been to church in some time and feels disconnected from the community of believers. She feels that if she had more faith, she wouldn’t be struggling with feelings of depression and anxiety. Her primary care physician has prescribed an antidepressant medication, which she has been taking as prescribed for the past month.
Olivia’s social history indicates she is the second of three children in what she reports was a generally healthy and high-functioning family of origin. She is close with her mother and speaks with her every day. She reports her father died five years ago and that they always struggled with their relationship—she notes she “never felt good
enough in his eyes” and “my older sister was clearly his favorite.” Olivia reports a
history of having seen a counselor once “a long time ago” but does not elaborate. She
refused to respond to questions about history of emotional, physical, or sexual abuse
outside of what she has noted about her husband. Her primary concern for seeking
treatment is, “I want to feel better about myself, be a better mom, and get my life back.”
Consider the two theories you studied this week (Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Choice/Reality Therapy) and apply them to the Case Study: Olivia listed under the Discussion Resource below. Then answer the following questions in your Discussion Thread. Please organize your post with subheadings, to show where you answered which question. a minimum of the 3 required course
textbooks for scholarly citations.
- What are the goals with this client when applying a Cognitive Behavior Therapy approach? What are the goals when applying an Choice/Reality Therapy approach?
- What would be the role of the counselor and the role of the client from the Cognitive Behavior Therapy perspective? What about an Choice/Reality Therapy perspective?
- What interventions/techniques/procedures might be helpful for this client from a Cognitive Behavior Therapy approach? What about from an Choice/Reality Therapy approach?
- How would you integrate a biblical perspective with this client when applying a Cognitive Behavior Therapy approach? What about with the Choice/Reality Therapy approach? How are these theories compatible (or incompatible) with a biblical worldview when applied to this client?
- If you had to choose between the two theories, which one would fit better the needs of this client? Which one are you more comfortable with? Explain briefly.
Read; You are the CISO of a company, and you need to create logging policies.
