Case
Case
Case
Submitted By:
Subject Teacher
Fall, 2021
Table of Content
Tittle Pg.
No
Case 1: Neurosis
Case 2: Psychosis
Case # 1
296.33 (F33.2)
Recurrent Episodes
Summary
N.T is 20 years old girl. She contacted through Facebook due to presenting psychological
complaints. 2 sessions were conducted via Zoom as she is currently residing in Lucknow, India.
As she has good insight of her psychological issues, she contacted via internet due to presenting
complaints of low mood, low self-worth, lack of confidence, lack of concentration, loss of
interest, sexual orientation issue and negative thoughts. She was assessed using informal as well
as formal assessment including behavior checklist, clinical interview and subjective rating of
presenting complaints while for formal assessment House Tree Person and Beck Depression
Inventory were administered. She did Score 38 in BDI which manifests severe depression
Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Meditation, Relaxing Techniques, Good Nutrition and Exercise
Identifying Data:
Name: N.T.
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Siblings: 04
Birth Order: 03
Education: B.A
Occupation: Teaching
Address: Lucknow
Informant: Herself
The girl herself contacted through Facebook for assessment of her psychological disturbance due
of visiting a psychologist. She contacted due to her low mood issues, lack of concentration,
Presenting Complaints:
Behavioral Observation:
N.T. appeared neat and tidy in a casual shirt and hijab on head. Her body posture was not normal
and her shoulders were bent. She sat with her hands in lap while fidgeting the fingers. She
maintained eye contact but felt hesitant to maintain it upon few questions. She was cooperative
but she felt difficult to speak her thoughts. Her mood was low and there was a sad expression on
The patient contacted through Facebook due to low mood, suicidal ideation, sleeplessness, lack
of concentration, weight lost due to lack of appetite and anhedoni. According to the client, her
issue started in her childhood when she was discriminated by her parents and her brother was
prioritized over her. She reported that she never enjoyed a complete feeling of happiness. During
childhood, at the age of 6 she was sexually abused for 1 st time by an uncle of her family while
she was again abused at age of 8 by a stranger in a street. Due to which she started hating men.
She started school at the age of 5. She was not good in studies so she never liked school. She
reported a conflicted relationship with teachers due to her never completing the home work. She
had difficult time completing her studies. During college life she has a friend. She realized that
she is physically attracted to girls instead of boys with whom she had trust issues and feeling of
hatred for them. After Bachelor’s (B.A), she quitted studies because of her disinterest an being
confused about what to study because she had no interest as well as guidelines.
She started a job at a private school. Her relationship with colleagues was constrained and she
did not like talking to anyone. She reported that she is not happy with her job and she might quit
it because of societal demands of expression and friendliness. She reported that she faced
extreme disturbance in maintain her prayers’ routine and she will rate her religiosity 2 on a rating
scale of 10. She told that she tried but she could not firm her connection with God.
She never visited psychiatrist due to fear of society and being made fun of. She contacted for
help due to her mood getting so low every day. She reported that she never get anyone at school
or at family who could help her find solution for her issues. She reported that she was ridiculed
by family for her psychological issues. She wanted to stay alone because she didn’t like dressing
Background Information
6
Personal History
Birth and Early History: The client is 3rd among siblings in birth order and is 1 year older than
her brother. Due to immediate birth of brother. She reported that she was never loved. She born
through normal delivery and her weight at time of birth was 2KG. She was underweight and was
kept in nursery to a week under supervision. Her first cry was time appropriate. Her physical
health throughout the childhood suffered due to recurrent diseases due to weak immunity.
Education History
The schooling of client started at the age of 5 in a government school. She was an average
student and had extreme difficulties in mathematics throughout her education. She didn’t make
any friends except one friend in college with whom her bond broken later due to her extreme
attachment to her that led to fights over minor things and so much expectations of the client from
one she likes e.g. talking to nobody else or it would hurt her. After 14 years bachelor’s
education, the client couldn’t continue her education because she could never decide what she
wants to do next. She although wants to resume her studies but does not have any motivation as
Sexual History
She reached puberty at the age of 12. Her source of sexual information was internet. She reports
extreme hatred toward men and she reported her disinterest in getting married to any man
because of her hate for them as well as her sexual inclination towards females. As she reported a
sexual abuse twice in childhood, she have extreme trust issues for males and finds no interest in
them. She was molested and harassed as a child so she had extreme feeling of hatred for men.
7
Family History
The girl belongs to a middle class, Muslim family. Her father is 55 years old and works in a
private office while her mother is 50 and is a house wife. Her relationship with both parent is not
so good. There is a big communication gap between her and parents. Her relationship is
particularly conflicted with her mother who always asked her to stay silent when she tried to
speak for her issues because she said that these issues are unreal and does not exist. Her father
shows little or no interest in her matters of other siblings. He only pays attention to his son and
talks only to him. The family is nuclear but there is interference of paternal family in personal
life matters. She is compared with other cousins and girls of her age at very gathering that she
does not anymore likes to attend any of them and prefers isolation.
reported starting a job to not ask him for money for her financial needs. Client’s father
relationship with mother is also not good and he often insults her for minor reasons.
Drug Abuse
Forensic History
The patient reported medical issue of extreme itching in skin during past one year for which she
is taking medicines. Her stomach is often disturbed and she has stomach burning and nausea
Pre-morbid Personality
Upon asking her pre-morbid personality, she said that when I look back into the past it seems
like I was always the same, a girl who preferred isolation, who feared to take part in social
activities someone who never liked getting ready to go to events because that requires dressing
up and makeup because nobody accepts you with your real face so I prefer staying at the home.
Even as a child, she reported lack of happiness and enjoyment in childhood. She said that I never
liked my family or household and I do not like to ask from them for anything that is why I started
earning for my own self. She never made friends and she reported her extreme sensitive nature
because she get hurt by people’s minor actions since her childhood, it although got intense
during teenage.
Psychological Assessment
Informal Assessment
Clinical Interview
Behavioral Observations
Subjective Ratings
I) Clinical Interview:
9
complaints in the clients, a clinical interview was conducted. As this interview included so much
sensitive information to client’s mind, it was completed with 2 breaks in 3 hours. The interview
revealed so much information about childhood abuse, family issues, strained housed
environment, lack of support, discrimination between siblings and comparison with others.
language and expressions of the client during the interview. Her vocalization, verbalization,
The client is 20 year old with 5.3 feet height and 38 KG weight that is extremely low
according to Body Mass Index. She had a sad face and nervous feeling as depicted though
continuous pressing of fingers. She was neatly dressed and she cooperated during interview with
little reluctance in disclosing information. Her level of comprehension was good but she lacked
words to put her thoughts into words. He body gesture was not normal and she was sitting with
bet shoulder with her hands in laps while pressing the fingers. Her orientation of time, place and
person was intact and she had good insight of her psychological issues that she herself wanted to
amend them.
Intensity of the presenting problems was assessed on 0-10 point scale that targeted the
severity of the problem. Subjective rating of the scale was done by the client herself to
Table 1.1 Patient’s subjective ratings of presenting complaints as reported by the patient
10
Low mood 10
Anhedonia 09
Suicidal Ideation 07
Isolation 10
Irritability 10
Fatigue 08
Fear 10
Negative thoughts 09
Aggressiveness 10
Formal Assessment
For the formal assessment of the client following test were used;
BDI (Beck et al, 1979) is a 21 items scale that assesses the level of depression including
cognitive, affective, somatic, behavioral and motivational aspects as well as suicidal intentions.
11
Because the presenting complaints of the client matched the corresponding items of the scales, it
was used.
38 Severe Depression
Qualitative Analysis:
HTP was administered on client to get a detailed picture of client’s personality. Client
drew a small house that shows her detachment from family. There are no windows that depicts
her unwelcoming attitude. Closed door shows restrictions. Presence of sun shows presence of an
authoritative person in life. Absence of chimney shows repressed instincts. Shatter shows
extreme withdrawal. Client drew a triangle headed tree showing her aggressiveness and feeling
of insignificance. The tree have small branches showing her dissatisfaction from society. A small
stem shows her stunned inner growth. Trunk width is normal that means her personality is
flexible. Absence of leaves shows lack of growth and functionality in society. There are no roots
showing lack of security. Client drew a person with small head showing intellectual issues. Arms
are closed showing unwelcoming attitude. Small feet show dependency. Shirt button shows
Case formulation
12
N.T. is a 20 year old girl who has contacted due to presenting psychological complaints
including loss of interest, low mood, fatigue, sleeplessness, weight loss and loss of appetite. For
diagnosing the client, she was assessed using formal and informal assessment. That points
Matching the complaints of the client with the DSM-5 criteria of corresponding complaints also
points towards the same diagnose including Anhedonia, insomnia, fatigue, worthlessness,
isolation and suicidal ideation. These symptoms are significant to cause significant distress and
impairment in social, occupational and family life of the client. There are no episodes of mania o
According to APA depression affects 1 in 15 adults every year that is 6.7% of it. It onset of
appearance can range from late teens to early 20s with females being more prone to it. If there is
genetic history of depression in first degree relatives, there is 40% heritability chance (APA).
Depression is although different from bereavement that is a natural response to a sad event in
life. There can be many reason of depression including disturbed neurochemistry, genetics,
personality type and environmental factors. The chances of recovery from depression are 80% to
90%. Symptoms stop appearing after a considerable time period of treatment that includes
psychological and physical diagnose and then a relevant therapy. Sometimes blood test is also
conducted to see if there is any thyroid imbalance or vitamin deficiency that is causing
depression. Family history, medical history, environmental, cultural and childhood history are
explored to find the root cause to diagnose, treat and manage the issue. Low mood, fatigue, loss
of appetite, weight loss, muscular pain and sleep disturbance are symptoms of depression
(Kanter, 2008).
13
Predisposing factors included childhood abuse, homosexuality and conflicted home environment.
As all these symptoms are evident in the client, the client is diagnosed with major depressive
Case Conceptualization
Societal Expectations
Religious Obligation
No Friends
School life issues
Sexual Abuse
Household
Discrimination
14
Diagnosis
Major Depressive Disorder with Recurrent Episodes 296.33 (F33.2) according to DSM
Criteria.
Management Plan
Following plan is made for the client to amend treat her present psychological complaints.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is also called talk-therapy in which a talking interaction takes between the
psychotherapist and the client. It provides a way to the client to express their inner feelings that
makes it easy for both the client and the therapist to find out the problematic point, causes and
ways to amendment.
Psychotherapy is recommended to the client because it will help the client to know her own
entangled thoughts making the thoughts organized and comprehendible. It also helps the
psychotherapist to know strengths and weaknesses of the client to better know the client and
CBT is one of most widely used therapy for changing negative thoughts’ pattern by using ABC
model. In this model affects are modified in such a way that behavior is molded in positive form
to bring positive consequences. As the client has negative thoughts about herself, it is important
to change her thinking pattern. Increased feeling of self-worth will provide motivation to work
better on the treatment plan. It will also help to seek positive lessons from negative events of the
life.
Interpersonal Therapy
It is an effective therapy for depressive people because it aims on helping them to interact better
with the people they are facing problems with. As the client is facing problems with the family,
communicating and interacting while ensuring own boundaries will help her.
It includes deliberatively paying attention to own thoughts. As knowing own thoughts in crucial
for higher EQ that helps in coping own problems and maintaining positive social relationship, it
As the family of the client has conflicted relationship with the client, psycho-education of the
client’s family is also necessary because after all the therapies going back to the precipitating
16
environment can trigger depression more so the psycho-education of the client’s family is also
necessary.
Suggestions
Prognosis
Will to amend
Educated
Understanding
Suicidal tendencies
No family sport
No peers
17
Case # 2
Schizoaffective
Depressive Type
18
Summary
B. U.is 29Years old lady. As I personally know her, she contacted me last year due to her
psychological issues. At that time, she had moderate depression. She again contacted this month
due to her symptoms getting intense. The client had intense feelings of low mood, lack of
pleasure, feeling of being abandoned by everyone she loves, auditory and tactile hallucinations,
delusions and disorganized speech. She was assessed using informal as well as formal
assessment including behavior checklist, clinical interview and subjective rating of presenting
complaints while for formal assessment Beck Depression Inventory, House Tree Person and
She scored 75 in PANSS which indicates moderate illness. She scored 41 in BDI
indicating severe Depression. For medication, client was referred to psychiatrist. Psycho-
education, therapies, life style rehabilitation, electroconvulsive therapy (in case that other things
Identifying Data
Name: B.U
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Siblings: 04
Birth Order: 01
Education: Masters
Occupation: Freelancer
Address: Rawalpindi
Informant: Herself
She contacted through personal number due to presenting complaints of low mood, fatigue,
insomnia, binge eating, loss of feelings, lack of interest in anything, isolation, hallucination,
delusions and disorganized speech. She was previously diagnosed with moderate depression
clinically but from last 7 months she was having hallucinations as well.
20
Presenting Complaints
Behavioral Observation
B. U appeared in a casual night dress. Her hair was not properly done and she appeared sleepy.
Her body posture was not normal. Her shoulders were dropped. She was fidgeting her fingers
and biting the skin around her nails. She maintained eye contact but not throughout the session.
She rolled her eyes in a confused manner any times upon being asked a question. She appeared
dull and melancholy. Her speech was disorganized and she lacked words to describe her feelings
The client has contacted through mutual friends last year when she was diagnosed with
depression. The client had complained low mood, fatigue, insomnia, emotional eating, negative
self-thoughts, insomnia and hallucinations. She visited 2 psychiatrist then but she was
disappointed. She reported that due to the prescribed medicines I slept for 18 hours a day and
could not prepared for my exams. When she visited another psychologist, she was disappointed
by his response. When she reported him her issues, he said that ‘this is life and you have to deal
with it’. She told me that ‘if this is life and I have to deal with it then why should I visit a
therapist?
The client is first born children of her parents. As a child, she did not enjoy much approximation
of mother because she was a working woman in government setup. Her father’s family fought
with her parents and they had to leave for a separate house. She reported that when she was 4
years old, she visited her grandfather’s house. When he saw her, he said that go upstairs to your
uncle, do not come to me because I do not want to see you. She said that I hate my paternal side
of the family because they left us with nothing, my parents worked hard for us.
As a child, the client was molested by her own uncle, brother of her father. She also reported that
as a teenager she was again abused by cousin of her father. She was sleeping and he jumped onto
her. She said that even today when I am sleeping, I wake up from that fear. I feel like someone is
rubbing my body and the feeling is so intense that I often take bath in extreme cold.
She was a bright student and had many friends at school. Some of her friends are still with her
and supported her throughout her every problem. She is good at socializing but it often drains her
22
out of energy so she prefers isolation but this period of isolation has extended during last one
year.
The client loved her siblings but reported that what is allowed to her brothers was not allowed to
her. She said that she had dreams but due to fear of her parents she could never follow those
dreams. She reported that she loved a guy but she knew that her parents would never agree for
him so she did not tell her parents about him. That guy cheated on her with another girl who was
best friend of her. She started focusing on her career instead. As she knew her parents will never
allow an office job to her, she started freelancing. Due to continuous use of gadgets, she got
intense migraine so she quitted it for some time but it was her only feeling of accomplishment so
The client reported that she had already moved on in her life and was well adjusted even with
depression until last year when due to a big conflict between her paternal side of family and her,
she was misunderstood by her father. She was beaten by her father that she could not stand. She
was made to apologize her relatives. After that the client’s depression intensified and she started
feeling that there is some demon that is always following her. During the first month, after this
incident, she hallucinated almost for 3 weeks consecutively. Hallucination gradually decreased
as she kept herself busy but low mood and other symptoms including anhedonia and fatigue
persisted She reported that sometimes when she was sleeping, the door opened and someone fell
upon her. She also reported that she saw shadows moving and she smelled intense bad odors that
no one else did when she asked them. The client reported that the degree of sadness, low mood,
fatigue and negative thoughts is relatively more than the duration she hallucinated. She
hallucinated more frequently when she was idle. Due to this when she quitted freelancing and
started getting more hallucinations, she again resumed her work to get rid of this.
23
The client kept a lot of pets. She reported that now she could not love them the way she once did.
They do not please her anymore like before. She was gradually losing interest in life and felt
hopeless. The client had trust issues and feared getting married. She had rejected many proposals
and due to her obesity, she felt that she was not loveable. She reported that people consider her
rich so they approach her otherwise no one truly loved her for who she really was.
Background Information
Personal History
Birth and Early History: The client was 1st among siblings in birth order. Her weight at the time
of birth was normal. First cry after birth was time appropriate. She was a healthy and active
Education History
The schooling of client started at the age of 5 in an elite school at RWP. The client was a
good student and scored well in every subject until her A-levels where she failed in mathematics.
She had many friends and she liked socializing. She was a good student nonetheless with fair
Sexual History
She reached puberty at the age of 14. Her source of sexual information was her friends.
She was sexually abused, molested twice in her childhood. Her sexual orientation is normal.
Family History
The client belonged to an upper middle class Muslim family. Her father was 60 years old
with no physical or psychological illness. Her mother was 55 years old with no psychological
24
illness but with a physical disease of arthritis. The client reported that her mother was so
generous, cooperative and caring. According to the client her father was authoritative and
conservative. He allowed cline’s mother for the job because of circumstances but he never
allowed the client to work on her career due to his mentality that woman should stay at home.
Client’s father relationship with his wife was also strained. He always tried to please his family
and compelled his wife to be nicer to them as well. This made the environment of their house
often so suffocated that the client’s father did not talk to client’s mother for days.
He also used to beat the client in childhood and even in her adulthood just a year ago. It was after
Drug Abuse
The patient reported smoking cigarettes rarely. There is no other drug intake reported.
Forensic History
The client has extreme obesity. She was also diagnosed with moderate depression a year ago.
Pre-morbid Personality
In childhood, client was a happy child. After sexual and physical abuse, she faced mood issues
but that were not so persistent like they were now. The client said that she liked socializing and
making friends. She was good in studies and wanted to be a successful woman. It was betrayal of
her boyfriend that caused her depression and then her father’s physical abuse, beating, that
Psychological Assessment
Informal Assessment
Clinical Interview
Behavioral Observations
Subjective Ratings
I) Clinical Interview
To get details about the deep causes of client’s condition, two interviews were conducted
for 2 hours each time. According to the interview client major issues were domestic
environment, sexual abuse, physical abuse, hurdles in pursuing career, breakup and feeling of
worthlessness.
language and expressions of the client during the interview. Her vocalization, verbalization,
The client was 29 years old lady with 102 KG weight and 5.10 height. The client had
issues in speech and she also reported interrupted thoughts. Her comprehension of speech was
intact. Her orientation of time, place and date was also normal. She had insight of the issue but
her motivation to solve it was low sue to lack of trust i.e. lack of self-efficacy.
26
Intensity of the presenting problems was assessed on 0-10 point scale that targeted the
severity of the problem. Subjective rating of the scale was done by the client herself to present
Table 1.1 Patient’s subjective ratings of presenting complaints as reported by the patient
Low mood 8
Anhedonia 09
Suicidal Ideation 06
Isolation 08
Irritability 10
Fatigue 07
Fear 05
Negative thoughts 08
Aggressiveness 10
Formal Assessment
For the formal assessment of the client following test were used;
27
BDI (Beck et al, 1979) is a 21 items scale that assesses the level of depression including
cognitive, affective, somatic, behavioral and motivational aspects as well as suicidal intentions.
Because the presenting complaints of the client matched the corresponding items of the scales, it
was used.
41 Severe Depression
Qualitative Analysis:
PANSS was originally developed for measuring the symptoms of schizophrenia but it is
also used to measure symptoms change for bipolar and schizoaffective disorder (Ariana et al,
2017). The PANSS is 30 items scale. It consists of 3 subscales including positive scale, negative
28
scale and general psychopathology scale. Scores for positive and negative scale range from 7 to
49 respectively while for general psychopathology scale the score range from 16 to 112. Higher
is the total score. According to Stefan Luecht and colleagues, 2005, different scores of PANSS
corresponds as follow;
The test was administered to the client to measure the degree of psychotic symptoms. She
Scores 75
Qualitative Analysis:
HTP designed by John Buck in 1969 is used to measure one’s personality throw
drawings. As the client drew house at left side of paper, it shows that she is self-centered and
self-conscious. The size of house i.e., small shows her unhappiness and insecurity. There is no
29
detail in house that shows her extreme depression. There is no chimney which indicates lack of
any psychological warmth. The house is without shutter or shades show client’s openness to
contact to environment. Closed door and window show social reluctance. Client drew a tree with
small trunk showing low ego. Split trunk shows split and disorganized personality. Small
branches show difficulty in communicating. There are no leave which indicates depression and
lack of nurturance. Drawing roots at edge shows depressive tendencies. Drawing the person
client draw closed mouth which means rejection of needs. She didn’t draw much detail of face
meaning that she doesn’t need any acceptance and shows indifference. She unusually treated feet
Case formulation
B. U is was a 29 years old lady who had visited two psychiatrists in last 7 months. She had
complained of hallucination along with depressive mood, fatigue, binge eating, insomnia,
suicidal ideation and negative thoughts persistent from last 7 months. The client reported that the
duration of hallucinatory time period is comparatively lesser than depressive mood that is more
The formal and informal assessment of the client points towards the schizoaffective disorder
The client fulfilled the criteria of the schizoaffective disorder with depressive type according to
DSM-5. She met the criterion A of schizophrenic disorder that included delusions, hallucinations
and disorganized speech. She also fulfilled the criteria of mood episode that was persistent even
in absence of psychosis and it persisted uninterruptedly. The client, during the course of her
illness also reported consecutive weeks of hallucination but the mood symptom (depressive)
30
were present for the majority of the time. Also, these symptoms were not caused by any
substance intake. The presenting symptoms cannot be better directed towards schizophrenia that
has no mood episodes, schizoaffective bipolar that has depressive as well as manic type, or any
Schizoaffective disorder fulfill the first criterion of schizophrenia that is presence of two or more
Hallucination
Delusions
Disorganized speech
Apart from fulfilling the first criteria of schizophrenia, a schizoaffective person had an
uninterrupted episode of mania, depression or both that were persistent for a time period greater
that the time for which psychotic symptoms were present. Schizoaffective person may also report
rapid speech, racing thoughts, agitation, bizarre behavior and delusions (Peterson, 2018).
Predisposing factors in this case are childhood abuse, conflicted parental relationship and
negative relationship experience. Perpetuating factors were extreme parental control, disturbing
Case Conceptualization
Childhood abuse
Low self efficacy
Discrimination
Negative self image
Trauma
lack of worthiness
Physical Abuse
Trauma experience
295.70 (F25.1) Breakup
Schizoaffective
32
Diagnosis
295.70 (F25.1) Schizoaffective disorder with depressive type was diagnosed using the criteria of
DSM-5.
Management Plan
Following plan is made for the client to amend treat her present psychological complaints;
Medication
Psycho-education
Therapies
Electroconvulsive therapy
Medication
regulation and supervision. Although, considering her previous record of managing her
as schizoaffective is a brain-based disorder and therapy cannot treat it alone. Different kind of
and antipsychotics. According to Peterson (2018), 87% of the people with this disorder are
prescribed psychotropic medicines, 93% are prescribed antipsychotic, 48% are prescribed mood
Once the psychotic symptoms are treated through medication, the client is then better
Psycho-education
When one know about their illness, they are better able to deal with it. Psych-education
includes educating the client, their family and social group. It helps in understanding the
importance of treatment and ways to reach a goal to eliminate the disease or a disorder. As the
client has a strained relationship with her father, psycho-education of the client’s family is also
necessary because after all the therapies going back to the precipitating environment can trigger
the illness.
Therapies
There are different kinds of therapies for schizoaffective disorder. One of the most
a) Cognitive Behavior Therapy: CBT is one of most widely used therapy for changing
negative thoughts’ pattern by using ABC model. In this model affects are modified in
such a way that behavior is molded in positive form to bring positive consequences. As
the client has negative thoughts about herself, it is important to change her thinking
pattern. Increased feeling of self-worth will provide motivation to work better on the
treatment plan. It will also help to seek positive lessons from negative events of the life.
on helping them to interact better with the people they are facing problems with. As the
client has depressive type of schizoaffective disorder, this therapy will help her with
attention to own thoughts. As knowing own thoughts in crucial for higher EQ that helps
as a treatment to client to reflect own thoughts. Journal writing is one of effective way to
There are many organization and support groups that help people with schizoaffective disorder to
possible. They also find such people to manage their routine and lifestyle to work, learn and earn
effectively, organizations like National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and Depression
Bipolar Support Alliance (BBSA) help such people find resources to live an effective life. As the
client has access to internet and gadgets, she is recommended to join such courses and
rehabilitation programs that will help her boost her mental health while providing with skills as
well. Support groups are also an effective way to get through traumatic life experiences by
Electroconvulsive Therapy
It included stimulation of brain area when the patient is under anesthesia. It is more used in
Europe than USA and it is one of the most effective and sophisticated way to help the patients of
psychosis on which no other plan worked (Johnn Geddes, University of Oxford). It is anticipated
that other plans will work on the client due to her resilience she shown in the past.
Suggestions
35
Journal writing
Reading
Prognosis
Will to amend
Educated
Resilient
Understanding
Peer support
Suicidal tendencies
Domestic issues
Case # 3
(314.01)
Summary
The client was a 9 year old child with persistent problems pertaining to learning,
concentration and hyperactivity. He was brought to hospital by his mother. He was seeking
treatment from POF hospital, Wah Cantt from last few months. Behavioral observation was
Cognitive Behavior Therapy, behavior therapy, Good Nutrition and proper care was
recommended as management plan. The client scored 94 in Connor’s parents rating scale that
Identifying Data:
Age 12
Gender Male
No. of Siblings 3
Birth order 2
Number of Sessions 3
Client’s mother brought him for session as he was not performing well at school. He was
attending more than one tuitions but he hardly passed the exam. He did not respond to instruction
and sometimes he got so angry that he broke things and involved in vandalism. He was only
attached to his mother and listened only to her. It took him a lot of time to complete a simple
Presenting Complaints
Duration Complaints
1 Years Vendalism
1 Years Mutism
Behavioral Observation
Client was 9 year old child with a neat and clean appearance. He appeared serious angry
face. He kept moving his leg hitting the table again and again. He looked so indifferent to any
command or instruction. He was not answering anything and seemed so angry for the session. It
took some time to even ask his name but he was reinforced for rewards by his mother to answer.
Client’s mother told that he was a premature baby and his maternal uncle also had
learning problems. His younger brother was also a premature baby but he is too young for saying
that if he has similar issues too. His older sister is 15 and she was quite good in studies. He was
not much social. When he was admitted to school, he did not make any friends. He paid no
attention to studies nor played any game, instead he manipulated any toy he was given. He
41
continuously kept fidgeting. He kept hitting things with leg or keeps moving them. Due to
extreme disturbance in studies and paying attention to anything, he was seeking treatment in
Background Information
Personal History
Clients mother reported that he was a premature baby and born through C-section. He
was underweight and was kept in nursery for 48 hours. His bowel movements were delayed and
he still bed wets. His developmental milestones were delayed as well. He started walking at age
of 4 and speaking at age of 6. His sentence was although not yet cleared.
Education History
Client was in a private school of quite good reputation. He was student of class 1 and had
failed this year. His problem of learning was less salient back then but now he is presenting more
difficulties regarding concentration. He although liked singing and kept watching TV playing
some music. Other than this, he did not play or watched cartoons.
Psychological Assessment
Informal Assessment
Clinical interview
Behavioral Observation
Formal Assessment
I) Clinical Interview
Client was interviewed to know about predisposing factors but he did not cooperate
much. He just reported lack of interest in studies and inability to focus, the interview did not last
The client apparently seemed to be 7 years old. His weight and height was not age
appropriate, his hygiene was maintained. His speech and comprehension was not age
Pre-requisite skills
eye contact 7 6
Inattention 10 10
Poor imitation 9 9
Developmental skills
Poor self-help skills 7 6
Poor motor skills 5 6
Poor cognitive skills 9 9
Poor socialization 7 8
Behavioral problems
Irritability 8 9
The client scored 68 in Connor’s parents rating scale that indicates symptoms getting
more serious.
Case Formulation
Based on administered tests and the information gained through family, client has
problems in learning, sticking to one task, concentration and he also have anti-social behavior
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tendency showing from past 1 year. He has all the required symptoms for ADHD. These
functioning in at least two areas (home, study, work, job) is also necessary to be diagnosed with
As the client had persistent symptoms from two years and he had impaired functioning in
home, school and society, with difficulty in attention and hyperactivity including fidgeting, the
client is diagnosed with ADHD. Results of assessment applied on the client were also indicative
of ADHD.
Predisposing factors included premature birth. While there were no apparent perpetuating
factors. Prognostic factor included sex of the child i.e. male, ADHD is more prevalent in males
(Julia et al, 2010). Chances of recovery are also there due to cooperative and financially stable
family as they can afford expenditures of treatment and are well educated.
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Case Conceptualization
The following figure shows a summary of child’s problem, various modes of assessment
were applied, different factors contributing to the problems and proposed management strategies.
Maintaining
Predisposing Precipitating Factors Protective
Factors
factors Factors
Delayed
developmental Poor
premature milestones. Compliance
cognitive
birth.
skills. Supportive
Birth
Poor mother.
complications
adaptive
.
skills.
ADHD
Management Plan
Rapport Building.
Positive Reinforcement
Behavior skill training.
Psycho-education
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Management Plan
The management plan was made according to unique characteristics of the client. It was
directed to manage child’s problematic behavior. Management plan would be implemented on
the basis of behavior therapy.
child, to discuss management plan with mother and to guide her ways to manage
Concrete and clear verbal instructions to help him better understand and implement
Use short prompt and make him regulate behavior accordingly e.g. ‘stop, do, eat’
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Healthy food
eliminates unwanted behavior. It also includes training the parents to help children adjust and
prosper.
Medication
Case # 4
303.90 (F10.20)
Summary
Client was 25 years old man with persistent problem of substance intake. He had been
brought to hospital by his brother due to client’s behavior getting adverse every day. He
demanded his family for money for drugs and if family refused he threw things at them, used
Formal and informal assessment was carried out. An interview of the client was taken to
get an insight into the history of his personal life, family and the problems he faced or was
facing. General observation was done. In formal assessment House Tree Person and Drug abuse
Drug abuse screening test was administered in which he scored 8 that is evident of
In the light of presenting issues and assessment the client was recommended immediate
drug detoxification, medication followed by therapies including cognitive behavior therapy and
relaxation therapy.
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Identifying Data:
Name ZA
Age 25
Gender Male
No. of Siblings 5
Birth order 2
Number of Sessions 3
Client’s older brother referred him to hospital due to client demand of money for drug,
bleeding from nose and throwing things for not getting money.
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Presenting Complaints
Behavioral Observation
The client was 25 years old male with an untidy appearance and entangled hair. He was
not willing to communicate initially. He was continuously itching his arms. He was an introvert
and his speech was unintelligible. It was difficult to make him speak. After asking his name and
few general things about weather, his school memories and favorite food, he felt little
comfortable. He didn’t socialize much and was not maintaining an eye contact. He was so slow
in his movements and his hands were shivering. He was gripping the glass with a firm grasp.
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His brother referred him to hospital because he was consuming a lot of alcohol and when
he did not find money to buy alcohol, he would beat himself and throw things away. He abuses
others and throw thing at everyone. He was showing aggression and blamed his family to be his
enemy. When he tried to quit drug abuse, he became even more aggressive. He often stayed
outside the house with his friends for many days. The client was losing weight and was
becoming thinner.
The client visited many hospitals and he stayed in one of rehabilitation center for some
time but had to quit due to financial issues. The client first indulged in drug intake 5 years back
after his father’s death. After his father death, he quitted studies and started working in a nearby
shop. There he started alcohol intake due to peer pressure. He was a gentleman and respected his
mother so in start of drug intake, on her request he wanted to quit alcohol intake but his
condition got worse. Now to get alcohol, he threw things and makes fuss in the home. There was
According to the client, alcohol was his way to escape from painful life. He told that he
wanted to quit but he would end up worrying about life and its adversities. He loved his brother
Background Information
Personal History
Birth and Early History: The client was 2nd among siblings in birth order. He was born
through normal delivery and weighed appropriate at time of his birth. First cry after birth was
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time appropriate. The client had asthma since childhood He covered her development milestones
age appropriately.
Education History
The client was good in studies. He passed his metric exams with 2 nd division from a government
school but due to father’s death he stopped studying and worked in nearby shop. He was an
average student and he was particularly interested in arts. He used to make painting and he liked
singing.
Sexual History
Family History
The client belonged to a lower class family. He had 5 siblings. He was 2 nd one. His father
died when he was 18. He quitted studies after that. His mother was house wife and she was
uneducated. He late father worked as a labor. He had good relationship with his family. The
environment of the house before his father’s death was good despite poverty.
His was unmarried. His relationship with mother was complicated after drug absue due to
continuous fighter in the house. He regretted disrespecting his mother and reported that he was
not in his own control. His relationship with brother was although better because e treated him
The authoritative family of the house was his father and after his death his mother and
elder brother took charge of the house. There was no psychological illness reported in any
Drug Abuse
The patient reported intake of alcohol. He reported that he liked weed but it worsen his
Forensic History
Pre-morbid Personality
The client was an obedient child and an average student. He was laways an introvert so had only
few friends. After quitting studies, he lost his friends due to no connection with them anymore.
The change in company affected him in many ways including making him learn foul language
and drug intake as well. He was so good in arts, painting and music.
Psychological Assessment
Informal Assessment:
Clinical Interview
Behavioral Observations
I) Clinical Interview:
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Interview of the client was taken to get insight into the persitenting issues of the client.
The interview was conducted for 1 hour and reveal many of the personality aspects, triggering
The client felt worthless, after his father’s death he quitted studies but he wanted to
become an officer in some prestigious department. He reported that it is money to be blamed that
made him ruin his life. He also reported that he wanted to end his life and he felt like a burden on
his family and a source of sorrow for his mother. The client showed a will to quit drugs.
language and expressions of the client during the interview. His vocalization, verbalization,
The client was 25 years old man with 60 KG weight and 5.9 height. The client hands
were shivering and his movements were slow. His comprehension of the speech was intact but he
had slow speech. His orientation of time, place and date was also normal. He had an insight of
the issue and his will to amend the issue was high.
Intensity of the presenting problems was assessed on 0-10 point scale that targeted the
severity of the problem. Subjective rating of the scale was done by the client himself to present
Table 1.1 Patient’s subjective ratings of presenting complaints as reported by the patient
Low mood 09
Anhedonia 10
Suicidal Ideation 08
Isolation 09
Irritability 10
Fatigue 10
Fear 02
Negative thoughts 08
Aggressiveness 10
Formal Assessment
For the formal assessment of the client following test were used;
DAST-10 was designed to screen drug abuse. It takes 5 minutes to be administered. It is used in
variety of the settings to get a quick index of drug abuse. It is a 10 items scale. It was
Qualitative Analysis
Drug abuse screening test was administered in which he scored 8 that is evident of
The client drew a comparatively bigger house than rest of the pictorial contents that
represents overly restrictive and controlling environment of the house. A lack of chimney on the
house represents lack of psychological warmth in client's life. A large roof with terrace
represents his withdrawal from world and involvement with inner life's fantasy. Closed door,
windows and absence of path indicate inaccessibility to the client as he is an extreme introvert.
The client drew an average trunk that represents his inner strength. Branches were empty that
shows his extremely less connection with others. The client drew a figure of human with a bigger
head indicating high imagination and bigger eyes that indicated perception about details of the
world. He drew unusual body with no dress, limbs and hands that indicated his cutoff from
reality.
Case Formulation
The client was 25 years old male with presenting complaints of alcohol intake. The
formal and informal assessments pointed towards Alcohol Use Disorder 303.90(F10.20)
According to general observation, assessment and reported issues by client and his family
it was concluded that client has alcohol use disorder with severity because he was meeting 6
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criteria of AUD including increased alcohol intake then intended, strong craving, will to quit but
being failed, gradual increase in intake to get results, problems related to wearing out e.g.,
stomach issues and bleeding and having no interest in things that were once enjoyable e.g., art in
the case of client. Predisposing factors included death of father, quitting studies and bad
company. Perpetuating factors included going back to bad company and consuming alcohol
Spirtual Social
Weak connection Peers
with religio or a
higher power Family issues
Biology Psychological
Age Coping skills
Gender Personality type
Disturbed Hormones Alcohol Use Bereavement
Disorder
303.90 (F10.20)
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Diagnosis
Management Plan
Recommendation
Alcohol Detoxification
To bring him back from mass consumption of alcohol to normal level and then gradually
Relaxation Therapy
To attain a level of calmness and decrease his negativity, stress and anger so that he can
stay calm and assertive in stressing condition and he may not start drug abuse again due to lack
III) PANSS
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