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APA Psychotherapy Training Videos are intended solely for educational purposes for mental health professionals. Viewers are expected to treat confidential material found herein according to strict professional guidelines. Unauthorized viewing is prohibited.
The therapeutic approach is informed by social cognitive learning theory as well as a developmental family-systems model. Effective therapy begins with comprehensive assessment, identification of patient strengths as well as problem areas, and consideration of developmental issues and family relationships that help in understanding the nature of the patient's presenting problems. This process leads to a case formulation, which when communicated with the patient, leads directly to specification of goals and the therapy approaches to be used. A variety of psychoeducational and behavioral intervention approaches then may be utilized to progress toward the patient's goals, including self-monitoring, goal setting, behavioral contracting, positive reinforcement, problem solving, communication skills training, and cognitive restructuring. When working with children and adolescents as patients, many of these interventions are family based. A typical client would be an adolescent with Type 1 diabetes who does not adhere well to his or her medical regimen, has poor control of blood glucose, inappropriate health beliefs, and frequent conflicts with his or her parents about his or her diabetes management. In many cases, parents and adolescents have different goals for diabetes care. In such a case, the adolescent usually has primary responsibilities for diabetes self-care, with parents assuming their adolescent is capable of self-care autonomy. In the course of therapy, the appropriateness of diabetes health beliefs are addressed, diabetes care goals and responsibilities are negotiated, and supportive parental involvement and communication is achieved, as is the adolescent's need for autonomy. This approach can be used in typical cases but may not be appropriate when there are complications such as parental psychopathology, severe family conflict, or the presence of psychiatric disorders, such as depression or eating disorders in the adolescent. These cases will also require direct interventions for these other problems. |
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