Addressing and Confronting Bias and Prejudice
Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read Chapters 8, 12, and 13 in DSM 5 Made Easy: The Clinician’s Guide to Diagnosis; Chapter 2 in Turning Points in Dynamic Psychotherapy: Initial Assessment, Boundaries, Money, Disruptions and Suicidal Crises; Chapter 5 in The Psychiatric Interview: Evaluation and Diagnosis; all required articles; and review the PSY645 Fictional Sociocultural Case Studies Download PSY645 Fictional Sociocultural Case Studies document.
One of the most important aspects of developing competence in psychopathology is to be as honest and as self-aware as possible about your personal attitudes toward people who have mental health conditions. Through this awareness, we are better able to challenge our own biases and prejudicial views in order to be more open to the findings within scholarly research.
For your initial post in this discussion, choose one of the five case studies from the PSY645 Fictional Sociocultural Case Studies Download PSY645 Fictional Sociocultural Case Studies document, and write a detailed description of your uncensored personal observation of the patient depicted. Include any personal thoughts and feelings you have about the client or the scenario that may be related to personal biases. Describe at least one theoretical orientation you would use to conceptualize your view of the patient’s problem and how it may have developed (e.g., cognitive, behavioral, humanistic, biological, sociocultural, evolutionary, psychoanalytic, integrative, etc.). NOTE: Be clear that you are writing about theoretical orientations and using the theoretical orientations to explain the client’s symptoms and presenting problems. Do not use the theoretical orientations to discuss any therapy or treatment approaches. Your application of the theoretical orientations should answer the question: How did this client develop the symptoms and current presenting problems? For example, “Based on the cognitive perspective, how did this client develop the symptoms and current presenting problem?” “Based on the humanistic perspective, how did this client develop the symptoms and current presenting problem?” Etc. Next, identify the issues you might focus on in treatment with this patient. Be sure to identify within your post which of the five case studies you have chosen.
Case #1
Frank is a 45-year-old male who identifies as gay. He identified himself as “white” of German, Italian, and English ancestry. He stated his reason for seeking out psychotherapy “is because my boyfriend doesn’t want to have sex with me.” When asked about the frequency of his sexual activity with his boyfriend, he reported that they have sex at least once a week. While this tends to be the average amount of sex that couples generally have, he repeated, “You don’t understand. I just want him to have sex with me!” When asked to share his boyfriend’s name, Frank responded, “Orlando Bloom… you know, the famous movie actor.” When interviewed about specifics related to his alleged relationship Mr. Bloom, Frank is vague, avoids eye contact and becomes agitated. Frank appeared well groomed with logical thought but poor insight into his problems. He denied symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Akhtar, S. (2009). Turning points in dynamic psychotherapy: Initial assessment, boundaries, money, disruptions and suicidal crises Links to an external site.. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Chapter 2: Boundaries (pp. 41-67)
Morrison, J. (2014). DSM-5 made easy: The clinician’s guide to diagnosis. New York, NY: The Guilford Press. Retrieved from https://redshelf.com
Chapter 8: Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders
Chapter 12: Sexual Dysfunctions
Chapter 13: Gender Dysphoria
