Final Exam Fall 2012 Directions: CHOOSE TWO of the three case studies provided below and apply

y either Rational Emotive Brief Therapy (REBT) or Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT). You must explain how you would apply the chosen theory to work with the client. If you decide to use REBT for the first one, then you must use SFBT for the second one. And vice versa, or course. You may use your notes to complete the assignment, so be thorough and specific in your explanation. See the Rubric for an explanation of how your case studies will be evaluated. Your highest possible score is 50 points. Please submit your completed exam as a GeorgiaView email attachment by Monday, Dec 10th, at midnight. Case Study #1 25 POINTS Sam, a man in his mid-forties, is a husband and father of two children. Sam started playing cards in his teens, became involved in betting on horses, and has ended up gambling at the casino. Although Sam has at times found himself in financially tight situations, such as having lost the money he was to have used to pay his bills, these occasions have been few and far between. Sams gambling was basically okay until the last couple of years, when a casino opened up near his home. Increased access provided Sam with more opportunity to sharpen his blackjack skills, an opportunity he seldom avoids. Sams gambling annoys Jen, Sams wife, and their children. Jens frustration peaked the day she told him to get some help or leave the family. Sams employer is also concerned about Sams gambling and its possible effect on work performance. Sam enters gambling counseling services not knowing if he belongs there and reluctant to quit gambling. Given his happy-go-lucky nature, he doesnt really see it as a problem. I feel like SFBT would be best to use in Sams situation. Right now Sam is unsure whether his gambling is actually a problem or not, so the first thing I would need to do is discuss with Sam what he wants out of our time together and how I can be useful to him in order to try to establish a common goal for our time together. I would think that during this discussion Sam may say something about getting his wife and employer off his back, but I would think that through discussing these things out loud he may decide the best way would be to cut back, but not eliminate, his gambling. I would want to know Was there was ever a time that your gambling wasnt a problem to you and/or those around you? I feel that from this question he may mention that before they opened up the casino near his house it didnt seem to be as big of a problem. After the first session just being able to admit that his gambling might be the problem could potentially help him reduce it. When he comes in for his next session I would ask him on a scale from one to ten how much would you say your gambling problem was affecting your life when you first came to see me? Let say he said an eight, and then I would ask him now what would that number be as of today? Lets say he says it is a five today, we would want to discuss what changed between then and now for that number to decrease and what we could do to continue decreasing that

number. Depending on Sam and how things go for the next few sessions he may be able to work on his gambling problem by setting aside a certain amount of time or money every month or week to gamble and once that is gone then that be it. If Sams problem is more severe than it presents to be now he may even have to consider moving himself and his family somewhere that he does not have the opportunity to gamble very often so that the temptation is not right in front of him. For Sams situation I chose not to use the miracle question, I feel like it is an excellent resource to use for certain situations, but Sam didnt really seem to be the one that felt there needed to be change, other than perhaps for people to stop bugging him about his gambling. Case Study #2 25 POINTS George, a highly successful computer programmer, is a thirty-four-year-old bachelor with very limited dating experience. He would like to find a girlfriend, but he is afraid to approach women. He fears they will think of him negatively and probably ridicule him for his lack of dating experience. George feels in a real bind because he dreads the thought of being alone all his life. He says, "Nothing could be more terrible!" except perhaps being turned down for a date or being ridiculed "because of my stupid behavior." Also, he feels self-conscious because he sees himself as overweight and has a receding hairline. He believes that a man has to be a handsome, swinging stud to rate with women. He believes that women are unfair to expect so much; therefore, he often feels angry toward women. George attributes his shyness to the fact that kids poked fun at him in high school and called him a "nerd," he says. "Once a nerd, always a nerd," he states. George is considering a hair transplant and a "fat farm program" so he "will look like a cool, swinging single rather than an old man." George is also considering quitting his job because he has daily contact with women at the office, and he is sure "theyre talking behind my back about me and my social ineptness." He says that seeing the women makes him feel worse because of what they say and because they are so unattainable. George wants help in deciding how to solve his "shyness" problem. For Georges situation REBT would definitely be the best route to go due to all of his irrational thoughts. It seems as though his main concern is finding a girlfriend, but there are a lot of irrational type of thoughts that we need to address first and where they come from. George has already stated that he feels much of his shyness comes from being made fun of and called names in high school, and basically says because he was a nerd in high school he will always be a nerd. Since this is where we feel like much of his feelings of inadequacy come from I think this would be a good place to start. I would want to ask him if or how who he was in high school determines who he is for the rest of his life. The next thing I would want to address is his assumptions about all women thinking negatively and old wanting men who are handsome and studly. For this I would possibly ask him questions like do you know any men that

are currently in relationships with women who may not be extremely attractive? If what you say is true, how are they in these relationships? The last big issue I would want to address with George is his comment that nothing could be more terrible than being alone for the rest of his life. When he says this I may reflect back and simply say nothing could be more terrible than being alone. If he still believes this to be true I may ask him if he knows any people who are alone and if they are unhappy, and possible ask him to imagine his life if he were to be all alone, he would still have friends, a job, family, etc. and would he still think that is the worst thing that could happen. From here I would want to help George find new ways of thinking about his problems. Instead of being alone being the worst thing ever, perhaps he could say that it may not be ideal, but he could still have an enjoyable life. And instead of saying all women are unattainable, say that some women are unattainable by some men, just like some men are unattainable by some women, etc. Case Study #3 25 POINTS Julie is interested in exploring her relationships with men. She says that she cannot trust her male therapist because he is male and that she cannot trust men because her father was an alcoholic and was therefore untrustworthy. She recalls that he was never around when she needed him and the she would not have felt free to go to him with her problems in any case, because he was loud and gruff. She tells her therapist of the guilt she felt over her fathers drinking because of her sense that in some way she was causing him to drink. Julie, who is now 35 and unmarried, is leery of men, convinced that they will somehow let her down if she gives them the chance. She has decided in advance that she will not be a fool again, that she will not let herself need or trust men. Although Julie seems pretty clear about not wanting to risk trusting men, she realizes that this notion is self-defeating and would like to challenge her views. Though she wants to change the way in which she perceives and feels about men, somehow she seems to have an investment in her belief about their basic untrustworthiness. She is not very willing to look at her part in keeping this assumption about men alive. Rather, she would prefer to pin the blame on her father. It was he who taught her this lesson, and now it is difficult for her to change.

EXAM GRADING RUBRIC

CRITERION - REBT 6 points Student 4 points Student demonstrates demonstrates average knowledge below average of the theory. knowledge of the theory.
6 points Student is fairly thorough in describing the process of applying the theory to this case study, and lacks no more than two or three elements. 3 points Students paper has no more than four or five errors. 4 points Student is sketchy in describing the process of applying the theory to this case study, but lacks no more than 4 or 5 elements 2 points Students paper has more than 5 errors.

Score
2 points Student demonstrates very little knowledge of the theory. 0 points demonstrates no knowledge of the theory chosen

10 points Student demonstrates superior knowledge of the theory.

8 points Student demonstrates above average knowledge of the theory

10 points Student is very thorough and specific in describing the process of applying the theory to this case study.

8 points Student is thorough in describing the process of applying the theory to this case study, and lacks no more than one element. 4 points Students paper has no more than two or three errors.

2 points Students application of the theory to this case study is inadequate, and lacks many elements

0 points student does not apply the theory to the case study.

5 points Students paper is free of grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.

1 point Students paper has more than 10 errors.

0 points Students paper has many errors and demonstrates no effort to follow rules of grammar, spelling, or punctuation.

Total Score out of 25 Points

10 points Student demonstrates superior knowledge of the theory.

8 points Student demonstrates above average knowledge of the theory

CRITERION - SFBT 6 points Student 4 points Student demonstrates demonstrates average knowledge below average of the theory. knowledge of the theory.

Score
2 points Student demonstrates very little knowledge of the theory. 0 points demonstrates no knowledge of the theory chosen

10 points Student is very thorough and specific in describing the process of applying the theory to this case study.

8 points Student is thorough in describing the process of applying the theory to this case study, and lacks no more than one element. 4 points Students paper has no more than two or three errors.

5 points Students paper is free of grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.

6 points Student is fairly thorough in describing the process of applying the theory to this case study, and lacks no more than two or three elements. 3 points Students paper has no more than four or five errors.

4 points Student is sketchy in describing the process of applying the theory to this case study, but lacks no more than 4 or 5 elements 2 points Students paper has more than 5 errors.

2 points Students application of the theory to this case study is inadequate, and lacks many elements

0 points student does not apply the theory to the case study.

1 point Students paper has more than 10 errors.

0 points Students paper has many errors and demonstrates no effort to follow rules of grammar, spelling, or punctuation.

Total Score out of 25 Points

Total Score (out of 50) __________