- Based on what the clinician has learned during the intake, what are some of the symptoms a clinician should look for, or ask about, when working with this client during the initial sessions? Explain each symptom.
Some of the symptoms that the clinician should ask about from the client are: depression, anxiety, and panic . This would be of great importance so as the clinician can come to a conclusion on what disorder Meredith faces.
- What other historical information might a counselor want to ask about?
One may ask the client whether there is any member of their family that has a mental problem. This may be looked at from both parents’ families.
3. What might a clinician want to know about Meredith’s alcohol use and why?
A clinician might be interested in knowing how often the client uses alcohol and the quantity of alcohol that she takes in a given time. This might be of importance to the clinician so as they can come to a well drawn conclusion if alcohol is the cause of the symptoms experienced.
- What might a clinician want to know about her eating, sleeping, and stress, and why?
The clinician might be interested of what kind of foods the client takes and how often and the clients eating habits, in regards to sleep the clinician would want to know of what the time the client has side aside as sleeping hours and also of the clients sleeping environment and lastly on stress, the clinician would ask of what stresses the client. The reason of why the clinician would want to know all these is so as they can conclude whether the symptoms are as a result of natural cause or health problems of the client or whether it's due to the bad habits that the client practice in one way or another. An example of a bad habit is if the client forces themselves to sleep during the day rather than sleeping at night.
5. What conditions would the clinician want to explore when working with this client? Explain why.
The clinician would explore the symptoms mentioned by the client that is lack of appetite, sleeplessness, and having stress. This is so in order for the clinician to know whether these symptoms are there all the time or whether they come and go at different times.
6. If Meredith reported that her friends have said that she is “crazy, talking too fast, hyperactive, and unable to pay attention,” what diagnoses would you also explore?
The other diagnoses that could be explored are; depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and psychiatric disorders.7. How would the clinician determine if Meredith was experiencing a co-occurring disorder or a single diagnosis?
This would be done through the examination of the symptoms that are seen and the clinician would conclude that she has both if she has both alcohol problem and emotional problem. The clinician could also ask her to withdraw from using alcohol so as they can conclude whether she is experiencing an emotional disorder .8. Meredith explains in a future appointment that she is in love with Andy, but is scared that her parents will not like this person. She states that she feels stressed out about someone finding out how much she loves this person. It is noticeable that Meredith is not using pronouns. What other issues might a counselor want to explore? How does this interact with the diagnosis or does it?
A counselor may want to explore whether she is faced with semantic pragmatic disorder which is associated with the difficulty of use of pronouns by the party involved. This disorder interacts with the diagnosis as it is associated with mental retardation. As such, it is important to consider it as a pointer to mental retardation.
Reference
Association, A. P. (2006). American Psychiatric Association Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of psychiatric disorder. London: American Psychiatric Publishers.
J. John Mann, P. J. (2013). Clinical Handbook for the Management of Mood Disorders. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Michel Hersen, . C. (2011). Adult Psychopathology and Diagnosis. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.
