COUNSELING

Counseling: Theodore Clark Case Study

Part 1

Client Name: Theodore Clark

Client Initials: T.C.

Client Age: 40 years

Client Race/ Ethnicity: Black

Self-Identified Gender: Male

Presenting Problem

Clarksdemographic informationincludes education, nationality, and religion. He has completed a four-year degree from New Mexico State in consumer family science. His nationality is born and bred in Miami. His spiritual belief is none. He belongs to the Black race. Hisemployment historyshows that he is a special education program director and has always been promoted. There are no current and relevantlegal problemsin his life, except that he wants to divorce his wife through legal means. He has previously nohistory of counseling.

Currently, thereason for seeking counselingis his family problems and serious concerns over getting a divorce. Theonset and duration of concern are observed after he was caught cheating for six months; however, the problem seems persistent for the past few months as he was caught cheating on his wife. The wife got more troubled and is constantly on his lookout. Thefrequency and intensityof symptomsare still mild, as he has shown in his behavior with his children; though, he disclosed that he is under constant financial pressure as his wife is selfish with her money. The frequency and intensity could be observed in his irritability, anger, shouting, and loud outbursts. He wants peace of mind. The clientwants to improvehis life by having a divorce to release himself from the continuous stress.

Family Structure

Hisfamily of originis his Black ethnic background. Research has shown that Blacks tend to have more psychological distress, andthe roleof the Black race is apparent in low life satisfaction and high depression and anxiety levels (Williams, 2018). There is lower psychological well-being among this particular race due to these reasons. Thesignificant relationshipsinclude the wife and two children. Clark has been married for five years and has two boys; one is 13 years old and ten years old.These children are from his wife since Clark has been married only once.

Divorceshave not been mentioned, but since the current marriage has lasted five years and the sons ages are 13 and 10 years, the sons are his current wives children from her previous marriage. This could also be a source of stress as well as he has to take care of his wifes children and his shouting at them troubles the wife as well.The current living arrangementonly shows the involvement of his wife, children, and himself. There are nomajor losses or traumas. Also, there is nofamily mental health history, family substance abuse history, or family violence history. Thestage of development impacts and developmental challengesare evident in the fact that he has been experiencing shouting and outrageous outbursts on the children, who are not even the source of his troubles. His wife is already disturbed by his cheating and has been greatly bothered by his shouting at her children. These behavioral changes could cause developmental challenges like social complications, such as interactions with people could become troublesome if his mood is full of anger each time.

Multicultural Considerations

As mentioned earlier, he belongs to the Blackrace. Hisreligion and faithare currently none. Clark has noability limitations or impairments. Hissexual and effectual orientationcould be inferred from his six-month affair, which shows that he is heterosexual. It became known to his wife after cheating on her for such a long time. He is not transgender or cisgender.

Hisage is 40 years, and according to this information, he belongs to the Millennials generation. He has a middle-classsocioeconomic statusand did not experiencehomelessnessas he is currently at a program director post and constantly received promotions. There is nomilitary upbringingor any such involvement. Further, there is nogang culture, drug culture, or any possibility of having to...

…proactive ethical approach include increasing ethnic familiarity and asking questions in the oral survey. The client could open up about his racial concerns. Also, transference of own values for acting independently could be done by inquiring the medical institute where the therapist works to allow him to take decisions autonomously and free of political influences.

Social Change Implications

There are nosystems and barriersthat impacted the current situation and outcomes. Only family stressors seem to be the main reason for his condition at the moment. Thework with this client has informed my understanding of a larger social challenge: family changes, marriages, and divorce that could be primary sources of stress for some individuals. Personal conflicts negatively impact the lifetime commitment a marriage offers in real life. The stability of marriage and its variations and changes in personal lives affect the individuals differently (Seltzer et al., 2005).

The steps that could be taken for bringing positive social change concerning this social challenge include a closer examination of the contexts that are in relation with the family changes, such as social institutions, technology, social interactions, racial and geographical influences, physical environment, laws and policies and macroeconomic factors (Seltzer et al., 2005). The financial and family stress could have resulted from these contextual challenges that need to be scrutinized in-depth for a clear overview of the clients disorder and its better therapeutic intervention.

References

Akfert, S.K. (2012). Ethical dilemmas experienced by psychological counselors working at different institutions and their attitudes and behaviors as a response to these dilemmas. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 12(3), 1806-1812.

Brewin, C.R. & Holmes, E.A. (2003). Psychological theories of posttraumatic stress disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 23, 339-376. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7358(03)00033-3

Casey, P. & Doherty, A. (2013, March 19). Adjustment disorders: Diagnosis and treatment issues. Psychiatric Times. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/adjustment-disorders-diagnostic-and-treatment-issues

Comprehensive Rehab. (2019, March 10). Setting goals, key part of therapy. https://comprehensiverehabinc.com/blog/setting-goals-key-part-of-therapy/

Kim, G.,…