Individual Practice Flashcards
(22 cards)
In clinical work with sexually abused children, an important treatment goal is to:
Relieve guilt.
Often, sexually abused children believe they are culpable and feel they are responsible for their victimization. The perpetrator sometimes reinforces this nefarious perception by telling the child they wanted the sexual experience and seduced the perpetrator. Before a child can heal and restore their self esteem, the victim must be helped to recognize that she or he was NOT at fault.
Sal Minuchin created which kind of family therapy?
Structural Family Therapy
The Jones family is composed of a mother, a live-in boyfriend, and seven children. The family receives public assistance. Mrs. Jones is depressed and complains of losing control of the children. There is continuous fighting among them. According to Minuchin’s model, the most helpful intervention would be
first working with the family’s natural subgroupings, then changing the subgroupings and actively manipulating them in relation to the whole family group.
Structural Family Therapy is based on the idea that
Child therapy cannot be practiced outside the context of the family. This model requires that, at least initially, the practitioner will intervene with the whole family.
Structural Family therapy emphasizes:
Understanding and working with the hierarchy and interaction of subgroupings within a family as a major vehicle for positive change
Behavioral clinicians believe that in order to help clients feel better:
They need to modify those behaviors which lead to discomfort.
a method of learning that uses rewards and punishment to modify behavior is called:
operant conditioning
an intervention technique in which a client signs an agreement to make certain behavior changes within a specified time, usually with explicitly defined rewards for adherence or success is called:
contract or behavioral contracting
How would a social worker first react to a delusional and disorganized 20-year-old homeless woman who refuses to consider hospitalization?
By encouraging her to come to a walk-in emergency room.
The key words, “delusional and disorganized”, suggest severe disturbance. Self-determination has its limits and does not apply to a person unable to make reasonable decisions. The presence of severe disturbance and homelessness denotes an emergency, so emergency room service is appropriate. The stem of the question presents no information about a family. Involving her family is not an option, especially in an immediate situation. Determining what supports exist suggests taking time to assess resources. This is inappropriate in an emergency.
A 14-year-old depressed adolescent boy receiving treatment at a family agency mentions that he is actively thinking of suicide. The social worker believes the youth is serious and knows that the family is deeply concerned about him. Of the choices below, which action is required and should guide the worker’s actions?
To protect the client, the worker should call the client’s family, after telling him that she is required to follow this procedure for his own safety.
The client is a minor and the suicide threat seems immediate. The worker must act to protect the child. She has an obligation and is required to inform the family of any threat to the child and to act quickly. The worker is not obligated to maintain confidentiality when faced with a possible suicide. The other choices, i.e. consulting the supervisor or referring to a psychiatrist, are activities that the worker might pursue; however, they are secondary to actions that protect the child.
A client’s wife calls her husband’s social worker for information concerning her husband’s emotional problems. The worker knows they have a close relationship and that the wife is aware that her husband is in treatment. The social worker would most likely first respond by:
Probing her reasons for calling and asking for information
The response does not reveal anything about the husband or provide any information about the treatment relationship. However, it leaves open the possibility that the woman is asking for help for herself and permits the worker to explore this. HIPAA standards regarding confidentiality, which are consistent with the NASW Code of Ethics, require that the worker not reveal information that would indicate the husband’s status as a client.
An elementary school teacher has placed a disruptive child away from all activities for a predetermined, though short period. This is an example of:
- Positive reinforcement
- Negative reinforcement
- A time-out strategy
- Vicarious reinforcement
The correct answer is 3.
Positive reinforcement involves offering a reward for the desired behavior. Negative reinforcement involves removal or cessation of a pleasant stimulus, or application of an unpleasant stimulus when the negative behavior is displayed. Time-out simply removes the person from the activity and provides time to calm down.
Following an initial visit to an elderly client, a social worker notifies the client that they will meet again in six weeks. The next day and for several subsequent days the client continues to call the worker. The questions seem contrived and trivial and do not concern significant or pressing issues. The worker should:
Ask the client if she would like to schedule an earlier visit
Communication includes both manifest and latent content. Answering the client’s questions responds only to the manifest content, not the underlying message that there may be a desire for more contact. Scheduling another appointment is an appropriate response to the client’s desire for additional contact.
As a rule, the differences between the role of anxiety in schizophrenia and in neurosis is that in schizophrenia:
Anxiety leads to disorganized thinking and poor reality testing
In people with schizophrenia, anxiety may trigger or exacerbate the symptoms that characterize the illness, which include poor reality testing, disorganized thinking and hallucinations. These symptoms are specific to this diagnosis. Anxiety can lead to a range of counterproductive behaviors in people with other diagnoses, including mood disorders, but generally these do not include the psychotic features of schizophrenia.
One major problem for a social worker who sees both a mother and her child during weekly individual sessions is:
The possible rivalry between the mother and child in sharing the worker
A parent and child will each have different and, at times, competing needs. These needs may be expressed as tension or even hostility between them. Treating both in individual sessions can generate an additional layer of problems. A loyalty problem could also develop for the worker. It is best for family members to have their own workers, who each can experience as an advocate and supporter.
This concept involves two opposite messages of equal strength that provoke anxiety in the recipient. The client is not necessarily aware of incongruity and may feel compelled to abide by both messages.
a double bind
instincts or ideas that are acceptable to the self; that are compatible with one’s values and ways of thinking, are called:
ego-syntonic
what term refers to thoughts, impulses, and behaviors that are felt to be repugnant, distressing, unacceptable or inconsistent with one’s self-concept?
ego-dystonic
In family treatment, the identified patient refers to the family member:
Whose symptoms reflect the family’s pain
Family treatment interpretations often use a systems approach. The person who has the symptoms is understood to be expressing feelings for the whole family with his symptoms. All members are understood to be affected and in pain, although they may not be directly saying so. The identified patients’ symptoms, according to family systems theory, maintain the family homeostasis, the accustomed systemic balance of family dynamics and relationships.
In the functional model of social work, the emphasis is on the:
Agency and its services
Functional theory is rarely employed. However, it argues that the agency provides a model for society. A client can develop social skills by using the agency’s resources. Thus, in a halfway house, mastering the rules of the house and utilizing the resources available to facilitate transition to the community should provide a better outcome.
Mr. C is a long-term, chronically depressed, passive client. He has little social contact and few outlets for his interpersonal needs. With poor verbal skills and limited confidence, he does not usually initiate contact with others. He functions adequately at work and he has various hobbies that continue to interest him. How can a social worker initially approach Mr C to engage him in treatment?
Encourage interaction with the social worker and provide opportunities for him to ventilate
The key word is “initial”. The primary tool for change is the relationship. Therefore, the worker should first develop a relationship with the client. The other techniques might apply after there is a worker-client relationship.
A social worker doing joint or multiple interviewing will focus on:
The interaction
Multiple interviewing refers to working with several people at a session at the same time. This technique is used in family work, based on the assumption that the relationship system is the focus. Thus, the way people interact with each other is of primary interest.
