Week 6: Discussion

Imagine you are working as an assistant in a behavioral health office. The following family has scheduled their initial appointment with a therapist in the office:

Patrick and Sarah have been dating for several years. They have three children – 6-year-old Mackenzie, 3-year-old Bobby, and 3-month-old Trevor. Recently Patrick and Sarah have become concerned with Mackenzie’s behavior. For instance, before they leave Mackenzie with a babysitter or drop her off at daycare, she becomes quite upset. At times she cries to the point she is gasping for breath and even throws up. This sometimes leads Patrick to take off of work or causes the couple to cancel their plans so that they can stay at home with Mackenzie. Patrick feels like a complete failure as a father because he does not know how to handle these outbursts. The couple also mentions that Mackenzie has been sneaking into their bed at night, especially after they have been up feeding or attending to Trevor. In reflecting on her own childhood, Sarah reports wishing her parents would have shown more interest in her, the way Patrick cares for their children.

Before the family comes in for their first session, the therapist they are going to see has asked for your help in planning for the session. In your initial post this week please address the following:
Explain which of the therapeutic treatment techniques you learned about in lecture this week you think would be most beneficial in working with Patrick, Sarah, and Mackenzie.
Justify your rationale using specific points from the lecture or outside research.
Outline how you think the family’s initial sessions would proceed using your selected therapeutic treatment method.
In order to engage in an active discussion environment, submit your initial discussion post by Wednesday. For detailed grading criteria, refer to the Discussion Rubric.