Time Limited Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Treatment

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

According to Lehman and Coady (2010) psychodynamic theory is "the root causes of most problems are painful, frightening, or unsupportive experiences in childhood. The theory holds that unconscious internal conflicts or developmental deficits underlie problematic behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. The goal of psychodynamic therapies is to make the unconscious conscious." (p. 47). The psychodynamic theory applies to my client situation in that; she has developed an unconscious internal conflict about her pregnancy. Rasmussen (2010) explored the social implications in social work related to psychodynamic theory. The research on psychodynamic theory focused on a variety of different concerns and questions. The following themes where presented: gaining knowledge of human subjectivity in the unconscious and conscious mind, nature of oppression; the social, the quality, and nature relationships of people; identity and selfhood. My client needs to change her thoughts about her pregnancy and see how her thinking is affecting her life. My client needs to focus on the future and not the past, since she has to deal with the consequences of the pregnancy now.

In an article by Briggs (2010) he discusses time-limited psychodynamic psychotherapy treatment for young adults and adolescents. The developmental disturbance is significant to the therapeutic focus in this model, to facilitate the capacity of the young person to meet developmental capacity. The developmental focus is on psychoanalytic approach to the adolescent development, and combines the social worlds of adolescents with internal and interpersonal perceptions. The research relates to my client in that, she has some anxiety about attending classes at school due to thinking that everyone is judging her. The article was able to provide reason on why my client is behaving that way she is as it relates to her views of her pregnancy.

Christogiorgos, Stavrou, Widdershoven-Zervaki, and Tsiantis (2010) outlined the brief psychodynamic approach and its effectiveness of major depression in adolescence. The study also discussed therapeutic work and short-term dynamic psychodynamic psychotherapy with adolescents affected by major depressive disorder. The study also tells about the unavoidable difficulties and challenges that occurred during the therapy. The research applies to my client in that the research provided insight into how psychodynamic approach can be effective in helping adolescents like my client deal with depression.

Strengths and limitations

The strengths of the current knowledge are that, the research is very informative on how psychodynamic approach is effective in dealing with adolescents with depression. The information in the research also discussed how psychodynamic theory is effective in the social work practice. The limitation of the current knowledge is that, there is not much research on psychodynamic theory and depression in adolescents. In the future, there should be more research conducted on whether psychodynamic is definitely effective for the treatment of depression. It would be nice to have research focused on a single case study of the psychodynamic approach on an adolescent that are pregnant and dealing with depression.

Skills of TQM

Leadership

Flynn et al. (1994) recognized that in order for TQM to be effective in an organization, leadership skills are needed (as cited in Ijaz, Kee, & Irfan, 2012). The leadership skills are important to the CIS organization, because if the employees did not have leadership skills then the organization would not run smoothly. The organization would not be able to have positive outcomes, if someone did not demonstrate leadership skills. The employees as well as directors must demonstrate leadership skills in order to help the clients.

Empowerment

Silver and Randolph (2004) recognized that employee positive impact stems from empowerment and brings positive attitudes and behavior while leading to job satisfaction (as cited in Ijaz, Kee, & Irfan, 2012). Empowerment is used throughout the CIS organization, whether its project managers are empowering their students or directors empowering their employees. Empowerment benefits both the client and the workers. Empowerment is helpful when dealing with all sorts of clients and employees.

Research & Evaluation

In order to evaluate whether the services provided were beneficial to my client, I would conduct a single subject design. The single subject design will consist of a survey that will measure whether the services provided were effective to my client to deal with the current depression that, my client is currently experiencing due to her pregnancy. I would utilize an A-B evaluation design to evaluate whether cognitive-behavioral treatment affects the depression of pregnant teens. The baseline (A) will be my client before receiving services. The intervention (B) will be the services such as counseling and a evaluation. I chose to use a counseling intervention with my client because is known to help individuals who are living with depression. The counseling will be effective in dealing with depression and has been useful in help all populations. I will then have my client take a survey to see whether the services provided were helpful.

The research that, I was able to find focused on teen’s perspective of teenage pregnancy. Herrman (2008) investigated the cost and rewards of teen pregnancy by gathering teens’ perspectives of teen pregnancy. The study investigated interventions and individuals that teens could talk to about sexuality. The results revealed the impact of relationships, self, and vocations as it relates to teen pregnancy. The study concluded that teens saw positive aspects in teen births, but viewed childbearing as being hard. The research is helpful in the evaluation of the services that were provided to my client. The evaluation that the client will provide will tell whether the services that were provided were effective in helping her make her own decisions.

Herrman and Nandakumar (2012) article focused on initiatives to prevent teen pregnancy. The research revealed that adults perspective of teen pregnancy is negative while teens themselves perceives teen pregnancy to be positive. The research was conducted in a qualitative research method through a survey that has not been examined yet. The survey that the researchers are planning to utilize is Teen Parenting Survey (TTPS). The will gather information about the impact of a teen birth. The survey will assess adolescents beliefs, along with demographic data, that will identify teens at risk for teen pregnancy, or provide a pretest and posttest to demonstrate the effectiveness of interventions designed to gain an attitude toward teen pregnancy. The research is useful in that the survey will gather information for the population that, I believe that matters the most as it relates to teen pregnancy. The survey will be helpful in describing why adolescents end up becoming teen parents.

Lachance, Burrus, and Scott (2012) research focused on effective interventions to support families at risk for social and health outcomes due to teen pregnancy. The researchers studied evidence base research and found evaluated programs. The researchers implied that strategies are need from interventions that are successful to inform both policies and intervention designs that are affecting adolescents. The article points out that challenges that occur in program evaluators that deal with teen pregnancy are the lack of evaluations and inadequate emphasis on teen pregnancy. The need for more program evaluations is needed for a sound guidance for policy decisions and programming. Evaluation lessons learned have implications for other at risk populations. The research makes a valid point that evaluations are important to seek if teen pregnancy interventions are being effective or just a waste of time. The article stresses the importance of conducting evaluations on interventions.

Strengthens and limitations

The strengths of the current research are that the research does not want to focus on the perspectives of adults on teen pregnancy, but focus on the teens themselves. The research will be useful in identifying key concepts of why teen pregnancy is still occurring and growing rapidly in the United States. The research could help shape future policies and economic debates on how to decrease the number of teen pregnancies by gathering information for the teens. The limitation of the current research is that, the Teen Parent Survey is still not complete so it leaves room for improvement. The research is incomplete so there won’t be evidence of whether teens view teen pregnancy is a positive way like the research had stated.

Social Economic Justice

I believe that social economic justice means that everyone is allotted, the same culture, economic, and social opportunities to succeed in society. The opportunities can include being able to get the same education, job opportunities, and right to legal justice. The social economic justice situations that my client faces are that my client is young teenager, who is pregnant. Araújo Pedrosa, Pires, Carvalho, Canavarro, and Dattilio (2011) examined the social variables that impact teen pregnancy such as the individual, family, and demographics. The research also examined the quality of life and depressive symptoms; perceived value of relationship interactions with others such as friends, parents, and romantic partner. The research proved that social variables were associated with both difficulties in adjustment and the risk of pregnancy. The research is valuable in trying to understand how the social-economic component relates to teen pregnancy.

My client is going through a difficult time with her boyfriend, parents, and peers. My client is being judged by society because of her pregnancy. My client is associated with poor academic achievement, poverty, and an unhappy life due to her teenage pregnancy. Whiteley, L., & Brown, L. (2010) research showed that pregnancy amongst teenagers has been a topic of ethical and political debate, as well as important to mental health clinicians and providers. The social and family factors that are associated with adolescents risk for teenage pregnancy include a lack of nurturing and attentive parents or a parent with an addiction or mental illness, which includes family or cultural. The research is relevant to my client because the research points out some of the social economic factors that have contributed to my client becoming a teen parent. Strengths and limitations

The strengths of the current knowledge of social economic justice are that there is research available about social economic justice. The research talks about teen pregnancy and the interactions between the pregnant teen and others. The research talks about the hardships that teen mothers face upon giving birth to their children. The limitations of the current knowledge of social economic justice today is that there is not much research available on the resilience of teenage mothers on receiving an education and not being in poverty. There should be more research dedicated to teenage mothers and their children beating the odds and overcoming the stigma of poverty, low education attainment, and lose of social relationships.

Diversity

The diversity issues that my client is currently facing are that, she is an 18 year old African American teenager going to school in a low income area. Edwards, Thullen, Isarowong Shiu, Henson, and Hans (2012) research revealed that a young mother’s transition to motherhood increases her need for parent figure support. The research also revealed that there is a relationship between depressive symptoms and support from the pregnant teens’ parent. My client is living with her adoptive parents that do not support her making the choice to place her son in an adoption agency. My client and her adoptive parents have experienced family conflict such as argumentative behavior mostly between Megan and her adoptive mother.

Edwards et al. (2012) examined changes in young African American mothers’ depressive symptoms in the first two years of pregnancy. The research showed supportive relationships were important in lowering the mothers’ depressive symptoms over time. The research expressed that parent support and the baby’s father support can decrease depressive symptoms. Megan parents have stated that, she does not take responsibility for her actions and always blames others. Megan’s mother has described her as being lazy because she does not complete the house chores she is assigned. The client has notice a change in her behavior, which includes not hanging with the same group of friends that she has previously had in the beginning of high school.

Megan’s teachers, parents, and friends say that before she revealed she was pregnant that she displayed sneaky behavior. My client suffers from low self-esteem, which affects the way that she thinks about herself and the way she thinks she is viewed by others. Shanok and Miller, L. (2007) research explored the inner-city teenagers’ transition to motherhood. The results suggested that, a large majority were pleased to discover their pregnancies, although few teens had planned to have a baby. Megan has discussed with a few friends that she plans to run away from home and stay with a male friend. Megan has admitted that in the past, she has use to abuse marijuana and alcohol to deal with school and home life but has stopped since she learned she is pregnant. Megan says that the way she copes is by not eating certain meals, since she believes that everyone at school views her as being fat. She believes that her pregnancy has made her friends distance themselves from her. My client will have to deal with legal issues, if she chooses to place her son up for adoption. She will have to notify the father about her decision and also deal with her adoptive parents.