SSDD... Supporting Life
Another group of clients seek out therapy in an effort to maintain their current lifestyle. The idea of supporting a client in their life can help a client to adapt to aspects of life they are powerless to change. These clients may suffer with chronic illness, physical malaise, mental illness, addiction or dysfunctional interpersonal relationships. As the treating therapist, I would need to assess the client for stability and some level of cognitive understanding about why they are seeking therapy. This client group is more likely to be a self-referral rather than involved in a behavior-induced third party referral. Although the client may have behaviors they wish to change, these behaviors are not as critical as the Life-Saving category. Ultimately, the client is stable and aware that life can be lived at a higher level of functionality if they can find a way to remove the current barriers they perceive to be blocking them.
Another group of clients seek out therapy in an effort to maintain their current lifestyle. The idea of supporting a client in their life can help a client to adapt to aspects of life they are powerless to change. These clients may suffer with chronic illness, physical malaise, mental illness, addiction or dysfunctional interpersonal relationships. As the treating therapist, I would need to assess the client for stability and some level of cognitive understanding about why they are seeking therapy. This client group is more likely to be a self-referral rather than involved in a behavior-induced third party referral. Although the client may have behaviors they wish to change, these behaviors are not as critical as the Life-Saving category. Ultimately, the client is stable and aware that life can be lived at a higher level of functionality if they can find a way to remove the current barriers they perceive to be blocking them.
Although the client in the Supporting Life category is seeking to modify behaviors, they are able to do so at a more complex level of understanding and the cognitive theories can provide greater results for the client than can be provided by the straight Behaviorism Theory.
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is one therapeutic method that builds on the need to modify behavior but does so because the client perceives the need to change behavior rather than an environmental need to do so.
Theorist: Albert Ellis, Albert Bandura, Aaron Beck
Focus: To change behavior, the client must recognize and isolate irrational thoughts and beliefs. Change the belief, we change the behavior.
Strengths: Allows the client to take ownership of their therapy by providing feedback about weekly events, homework to help focus the client toward goals outside of the therapeutic setting and a way to measure progress made. As it pertains to the Support Life group, CT and CBT can offer a willing participant a broad array of therapeutic skills to help them learn to rethink the way they are doing things. Because the client in this group is willingly seeking out therapy, they are able to enjoy the benefits that cognitive adaptation to life can offer them.
Weaknesses: CT and CBT work only if the client perceives that there is an issue and that issue needs to be addressed. If the client is unwilling to take ownership and accountability for their therapy, then CT and CBT are powerless to help the client work through the issues.
Technique(s) I use:
The ABCs of CT and CBT are fantastic. When educating a client about the way thoughts, feelings, actions and consequences relate to each other, this tool helps provide a way to slow down the thoughts, discern the event and manipulate the consequences of the event. This skill is crucial to the client because it provides foresight into future, similar experiences.
“Disputing and Challenging” the irrational beliefs can help the client place logic into the actions they wish to change. These disputes ultimately empower the client to make sound, rational commitments to change.
Psychoeducation provides the client who is willingly and actively seeking out treatment the empirical data needed to justify their desire to change. When working with an individual who is reactive and “stuck” because of mental illness or addiction, a therapist can provide comfort and hope to the client who wants to move past a label and take back their life.
Personal example:
I have truly enjoyed opportunities to engage in CBT. One method I have found to be quite powerful is commonly referred to as Illness Management and Recovery Education. In this role, I help the client understand what their diagnosis means to them. We then, set personal goals and seek out appropriate supports that will help the client meet their expectations of life after diagnosis. The IMR specialist provides the client with community, individual and group support during their transition back to ‘the real world’. More importantly, the IMR specialist provides the client with hope.
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