Cassandra’s Case Study
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
From Cassandra’s case study, we deduce that she is suffering from both depression and anxiety. Numerous factors could contribute to her mental problems, including the fact that she hasn’t made many accomplishments in her life. She did not graduate from high school and has never been able to hold on to a job. There is also the fact that she has a son who she cannot care for, which reflects on her failure as a parent. She also has a criminal record where she was arrested twice before the current arrest. All these elements contribute to her depression and anxiety. The best treatment program for Cassandra would be cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The plan is appropriate because it focuses on the root causes of a person’s fears, leading to depression and anxiety.
The appropriate correctional program for Cassandra would be interpersonal psychotherapy. The main reason for recommending this therapy is because IPT is because it focuses on addressing difficult life events of patients (Johnson et al., 2019). In correctional facilities, this type of therapy is popular because it is effective and cost-friendly. It will also help her identify when the depressive moods began in her life. The program can be done in group settings as a strategy for reduce the cost burden on correctional facilities. Cassandra will benefit greatly from trauma-based therapy. Understanding the traumatic events that happened in her life will reduce the triggers for her depressions. Both programs will be used to help Cassandra to learn how to deal with her feelings, relationships, changes, conflict, and grief in a better way. The programs will hopefulness and reduces depressive and anxiety symptoms.
The helping process in correctional programs is focused on reformation. The process includes an assessment of the inmate and strategies towards improving their personal goals. To facilitate the helping process, counselors begin by developing a relationship with the inmate. The next process is characterized by identifying problems and concerns that the inmate has (Fox, 2013). Cassandra’s case would be identifying her previous heroin abuse problem alongside the deviant behaviors of theft. The third step is to help the inmate create the goals they want to achieve at the correctional program. Correctional facilities are designed to rehabilitate people; thereby, an inmate should have goals to become better citizens. The counselor should also encourage the inmate towards exploration and action in the next step. It will be through defining steps that will lead to achieving the set goals. The last process is termination. Having done all these steps successfully, the counselor ends the relationship with the patient and hopes they continue to achieve their set objectives.
One of the skills needed in facilitating the helping process will be the ability to build a rapport. Cassandra might not have a positive attitude towards counseling, but once the counselor can build a rapport with her, she will be comfortable to open up about her problems and goals she hopes to achieve. The other skill necessary is active listening. Active listening will ensure that the counselor catches on to all the problems and underlying issues affecting Cassandra. It will also be possible to engage Cassandra in offering more light on her issues and how she hopes to make changes in her life. A counselor can offer better guidance to the patient in goal setting through active listening.
References
Fox, R. (2013). Elements of the helping process: A guide for clinicians. Routledge.
Johnson, J. E., Stout, R. L., Miller, T. R., Zlotnick, C., Cerbo, L. A., Andrade, J. T., … & Wiltsey-Stirman, S. (2019). Randomized cost-effectiveness trial of group interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) for prisoners with major depression. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 87(4), 392.