Student number 1007545 Case Study CBT Application in the Treatment of GAD Introduction Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a widely recognised and accepted approach of treatment for a host of different psychological difficulties (Westbrook et,al.,2007), and there are a large number of well constructed experiments that have show it to be highly useful in treating depression and anxiety disorders, including GAD (Carr 2009). The aim of this case study is to examine the application of CBT e.g., contents, structure, processes, theory, research knowledge and practice skills, in relation to working with a client experiencing GAD. The first process in this case study will contain the back ground information about the client and the necessary consent forms. Following on, a brief discretion of the theoretical framework of CBT will describe the theoretical framework of CBT therapy used in this case study. The next process will disciple how information about the clients past and present problems, are gathered to form an assessment and to structure the clients therapy. During the assessment process an agenda is also implemented in order to structure sessions, review, and give feedback during each session. Following this, and form the information gathered during the assessment the next process will describe contextual information about the client, and how it guilds and structures the course of treatment, and provides goal towards resolving the clients problems through the use of interventions specifically used in the treatment of anxiety This case study will also demonstrate the importance of developing a collaborative therapeutic relationship throughout therapy sessions, and thoughtful practitioner skills, pulse any key therapeutic issues arising in the course of therapy. Finally a follow-up and conclusion of this case study will reflect critically on the observation of the client/therapist during therapy. For example, what went well/ what could have been done differently, how successful the therapy was in the achieving the clients goals, and what the client felt was most helpful about CBT, along with any professional development issues that need to be address. 352 Back Ground Information. For reasons of confidentiality, the client will be referred to by a pseudonym “John” John was a registered carer for his father and was referred by Arbroath Angus Cares (AAC). John informed me that over a period of several months he had been feeling; anxious, found it hard to concentrate and had problems sleeping. The rational for John having treatment was based on his presenting systematic/physical/psychological (GAD)problems and towards the resolution of his difficulties. All necessary professional ethical guidelines/forms required e.g., client informed consent, confidentiality, audio recording consent, full Scottish disclosures forms and practice insurance were approved and signed before therapy began. The nature and role of supervision, was used to give support /guidance for dealing with any difficulties/obstacles experience by the client and therapist during therapy sessions. The supervision was provided in one to one monthly sessions by AAC and three two hour group sessions over a period of nine months at Abertay University. Psychometrics test employed during the case study included: Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI), Hamilton Anxiety Scale, and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Furthermore, thought diaries and activity rating scales, (WAS) were used to assesses, document and monitor John’s levels of anxiety. In addition, text taken form an audio recording during a therapy session (see Appendix) demonstrating the practice of CBT was supplied as another relevant source of evidence. No other information from other professional was required. The Client. John is a single male, 34 years of age, unemployed factory worker, with no children. He was educated at a local school and left with three GSE. Although he liked school he was not academic. Having left school he started work at a factory. His mother looked after both his father and John until she became ill and died over two years ago. However, over the past several months he has struggled to feel confident after the death of his mother. In addition his sleeping had become disturbed. Over a year ago his father had a heart attack, and now John is responsible for looking after his father, and he worries about losing him too. In addition, he was made redundant then subsequently got another job but found it too difficult to go to work on the first day due to anxiety so resigned. He recognises his difficulty is anxiety and wishes to be more social, but finds himself worrying whenever he is away from his father than something bad may happen to him. He finds he can manage to spend time away from home with friends when he is distracted but feels he is still grieving for his mother 195 CBT Theory of Anxiety. The CBT theoretical frame work in this case study is based on Beck’s (1976) `cognitive triad’ that is ... through experiences, and events in childhood (and later) `schemas’ are developed which refer to the basic beliefs and assumptions an individual may have about self, world and future and interpersonal relationship, which allow us to make sense of ourselves, the world and the future. However, if an event or series of events violates an individual’s beliefs and assumptions, then dysfunctional assumptions, negative biases and automatic thoughts become more active, and distressed states such as depression/anxiety can result. Common negative biases in depression and anxiety include: over generalising (one person rejected me so the whole world will too), mind reading and predicting the future (things aren’t going to change so wants the point). The crucial component of CBT therapy is to challenge/change negative thoughts, assumptions, and core beliefs, (unhelpful patterns) with more functional/thought-feeling-behaviour (helpful patterns). The CBT interventions specifically used in the treatment of anxiety (during this case study) included: Becks depression/anxiety Inventory (BDI) Hamilton Anxiety Score (HAS) Hospital Anxiety Score (HAS), home work, record/thought dairies, activity/sleep records, behaviour experiments, relaxation, techniques and Socratic questioning in order to gain a deeper understanding of the clients difficulties, maintaining difficulties and developing strategies towards resolving difficulties. The theoretical frame work of CBT also contains an assessment of the clients contextual information e.g., relationships, personal, work and medical and an agenda. The agenda is set at the beginning of every session, and contains what the client/practitioner would be covering during sessions (what problem the client is having the most difficulty with) timing, and number of session, goals of therapy and interventions e.g., homework tasks. Following this, information from the assessment is used to form a formulation plan of the clients problems in order to further explore the clients problems, and for setting goals towards changing the clients unhelpful patterns, through the employment of intervention. For example, from the information gathered during John’s assessment, and formation plan and with John and I collaborating, it was agreed that John would benefit from a one hour therapy session, delivered once a week over a period of 10 weeks. During the early stagers’ of John’s therapy intervention e.g., psycoeducation and thought dairies were used, to help John become familiar with the CBT model of anxiety and his unhelpful thinking patterns Following on, during the middle session’s relaxation exercises and sleep records were implemented as coping strategies and for reducing his anxiety levels. Towards the end of Johns therapy behavioural experiments were employed to further test out Johns unhelpful patterns and towards his goals e.g., finding work, and for resolving his problems. Figure 1: demonstrating John’s physical and cognitive cycle of anxiety and worry. Thougths Dads going to have another heart attack "I carnt cope" worry Behavior stay in don't go out any where worry emotions my heart is pounding I m shaking feel sweating feel anxious worry Assessment and Formulation. The early task for any CBT counsellor is to assess the problems that the client is seeking to change (Mcleod 2009, pp 124) This process usually elicits contextual information about the clients: relationships, work, social and medical history (described in the background information). In addition, during the first assessment session it is important to gather as much information as possible regarding the clients expectations of therapy and what is expected from the client during therapy e.g., collaboration and compliance (Westbrook et.al., 2007). What follows is a description of John’s assessment and formulation plan and the processes involved throughout his therapy. For example, on first meeting John I observed he was of a nervous disposition e.g., avoiding eye contact, and displayed a slight twitch in his right eye. Having introducing myself, (and thanking him for agreeing to take part in my study, and having signed in all the necessary procedural forms) I asked John if he had any objection to filling in some addition forms e.g., Beck’s DBI, HAD and HID, to assess his level of anxiety. John reassured me he had not objections and sensing he was a little nervous I left the room, to give him time to do so. On my return having enquired if he had any difficulties’ filling the forms, he told me he hadn’t, and I proceeded by explaining the therapy of CBT using Pedesky’s (2009) generic CBT model and collaborating we drew a diagram of the model together to further demonstrate the rational for John to gain a deeper understanding of CBT. After which I asked John why he had come today? John told the following story: for sometime he has been experiencing anxiety, and he was having problems sleeping. Having listened empathically and showing genuine concern, I asked John to describe what he meant by being anxious and how long he has had problems sleeping. John replied when he gets anxious and he can’t think straight his head is fuzzy, and he gets confused and he finds it difficult to talk, his words get muddled. Following on, and to enable me to gain a deeper understanding and insight of John’ s problems, I asked John if he would describe to me (in as much detail) a resent example of his anxiety to me? John told me, that recently he had to go to the job centre and explain to them (employment official) why he hadn’t been looking for a job. All that week he was worried thinking about what they might do e.g., what if the they took his money away from him, how would he cope, he won’t be able to take his dad out anywhere, that means he will have to stay in the house ,as he doesn’t like leaving his dad alone. As consequence of all these worries John had not slept well, and all this worry was driving him insane and he was finding it hard to concentrate on anything else. As I listened to John I observed he was becoming more and more agitated , and noticed physical changes in his appearance e.g., his face was becoming flushed, and his right leg had started to shake and his speech had become louder. Not wishing to distress John any further, I thanked him for putting his trust in me, and allowing me to experience his distress, and asked John if we could further explore the problems he was experiencing (in relation to CBT) and exploring ways (goals) towards resolving them. John agreed that would be very helpful and using (Williams and Garland, 2002, Five Area Assessment model Model) we drew up a diagram of John’s unhelpful thinking/behavioural patterns, physical symptoms. Form the information gathered during John’s assessment it was important to further explore, and ascertain, why and when he was experiencing his anxiety. There are many interventions used within the “tool box” of CBT model Westbrook et, al., (2007) therefore, it is important to investigate what would help John and what wouldn’t, through guided discovery and collaboration and investigated all the possible solutions into challenging and changing Johns negative biases, core believes and physical difficulties for more helpful ones (Holland 2001). Having informed John how factors of GAD can escalate and maintain the condition, i.e. behavioural responses, thought control attempts and emotional symptoms, thereby maintaining his vicious cycle. I asked John if it would be helpful to draw a diagram of the problems he was experiencing (together) in order for us to focus on his goals towards resolving his difficites, and to provide evidence of any changes during his therapy. John agreed, and from the information gathered during his formulation and collaborating John was able to recognise his anxiety may have been triggered by the sudden loss of his mother, his father’s heart attack, and the sudden changes in this life, and feelings of overwhelming responsibilities. In addition, I asked John if he had experienced anxiety before, and drew his attention to the thought that some individuals use worry to block more distressing thoughts; a type of cognitive-emotional avoidance. John went quite for a moment where upon (hesitantly) he told me, that when he was about twelve he was taken out of school as his father was ill. John went on to tell me, he wasn’t quite sure what it was his dad was ill with, but he thinks it may have been a nervous break-down, as he didn’t work after the incident and his mood changed towards him. Sensing John was finding recalling his past emotionally difficult to talk about I reassured him that he was in a safe place and he had nothing to fear and empathically asked him if he wanted to proceed. John said yes he hadn’t spoken about the incident ever and it was possible his anxiety may have started when his father’s mood had changed towards him. With genuine concern, I asked John what he meant by change. John replied that, his dad would get upset and shout at him if he wasn’t on time and he had became very anxious about late, and although in time his dad went back to “normal” he still gets anxious if thinks he may be late. Form what John had told me about his past and present difficulties together we were able to draw up a list of goals and coping strategies for helping John resolve his unhelpful pattern and physical symptoms. For example, Johns short term goal were for reducing his physical symptoms and improving his sleeping patterns, by introduce relaxation exercises. Midterm goals involved raising Johns self –esteem and confidence levels, in order for John to gain control of his thoughts and emotions. With long term goals for the future set at gaining more independence e.g., finding a job Figure 2: Illustrating John’s formulation plan: containing vulnerability factors, core beliefs, critical incident, maintaining problems, and goals for change (based on Westbrook et.al, (2007) Basic Formulation Plan). Vulnerability factors anxiety due to fathers mental break down at the age of 12 Critical incidents. Core beliefs I’m stupid, unlovable. Sudden loss of mother two years ago It’s all my fault. The problem. can't stop worrying, thoughts going over in my head, feelings of fear and worry . Behaviour: I don’t sleep well, find overwhelming . things .Emotions:. Feeling low –sad worrying about dad being left on his own, something bad may happen. Physical. Body feels hot, feel sick in the stomach, and agitated. Current triggers Fathers illness , loss of job, hand injury Maintaining processes Do less activity, on the computer, more, watchers T.V. till late. Maintaining: Sleeping patterns disturbed. Maintaining: Avoids social interaction/passive activity Goals/targets: to reduce symptoms of anxiety and improve sleeping patterns . Raise self- esteem. more social activity more pleasurable activity e.g., engage in Raise confidence levels, find a work/ paid/volunteer. CBT interventions and key therapeutic issues arising in the course of therapy. Introduction The general focus of the CBT interventions employed during this case study were on changing John’s negative unhelpful patterns for more helpful positive thinking and behaviour patterns, and teaching John new coping strategies towards reducing his symptoms of anxiety and for raising his confidence levels towards achieving her goals. On refection, the key therapeutic issues that arose during the course of John’s therapy were concerning his homework resistance. What follow is a description of the interventions employed during this case study, and why they were selected to facilitate John moving towards his goals and the key therapeutic issues that arose during this case study, and how the issues were addressed? Following on, and from the information gathered during John’s assessment and formulation plan (shown in Figure 2) John’s unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns and symptoms of anxiety may have resulted from John’s early experiences of levels of low self-esteem and confidence levels. Therefore, and in order to facilitate John moving towards achieving his goals, it was important to employ interventions (during the early stages) specifically to reduce his symptoms of anxiety levels, and for raising his self-esteem and confidence levels. Interventions specifically used for reducing anxiety levels include: e.g., are psycoeducation, thought diaries, and behavioural experiments. Evidence used to monitor and evaluate John’s therapy, demonstrating the flexibility of CBT interventions employed during this case study are described as follows. Through the employment of psycoeducation John was helped to identify early signs of his anxiety symptoms and self-help options to cope with these situations. For example, John was able to distinguish the differences between two types of worry, type 1 and type 2. That is, type 1 constitutes the normal content of worrying (external daily events and non-cognitive internal events such as body sensations) and type 2 focuses on worry about worry e.g. all this worrying will drive me insane, and is used as an internal safety behaviour (Wells,2009). Having explained and informed John about the rational of his anxiety and by helping John to become familiar with his own NATs, “I feel like I’m going in sane”, and the role they play in the generation of his emotions and anxiety behaviours e.g., “feeling hot and out of control” through the use of ‘guided discovery’ (Beck and Young, 1985; J. Beck, 1995; Wills and Sanders, 1997) I was able to further explore John’s unhelpful patterns and facilitated the use of the Dysfunctional Thought Record (DTR) (Bates, 1993; Beck et al, 1979; Blackburn & Davidson, 1990; Fennell, 1989; Burns, 1999; Gilbert, 1997) and asking him specifically, to describe his behaviour response after countering events in his life that had triggered his anxiety. For example, when was the last time he had experienced his anxiety? John told me the following story: Last week, his dad had falling in the kitchen, and he was worried he was having a heart attack, so he called an ambulance to take him to hospital. I then asked John to write down in a percentage, how high he felt his anxiety was, John marked it at 80%, and collaborating through a process of guided discovery John was able to identify other situations throughout his life when he had coped e.g., when his dad had his first heart attack, and what he did to help him cope e.g., asked for help and knowing where to get help, enabled him to think and act differently. After which I asked John to fill in the rest of his anxiety thought dairy, and on doing so he rated his anxiety levels much lower e.g., 40% On critical refection, however, I felt at times I was becoming the authoritative figure and lecturing John. Although, John never displayed any visual signs of resistance, or confusion, (having reassured me that he understood the rational of CBT) I however, (and due to John’s sensitive personality) I sensed he was being polite and being overly compliant to please me. As many cognitive-behavioral treatments are time-limited the treatment may only last a certain number of weeks, after which the patient is expected to have gained enough skills to continue the work on their own. This works well for people who have one specific issue they would like to address. However, the short-term focus of some cognitive-behavioral treatments may not meet the needs of people looking for longer-term support. Although form the information gathered from John’s assessment and psychometric scores John was not displaying high levels of dysfunction. I sensed John’s underlying issues were not necessary addressed during his course of therapy, due to the time restraint and structured processes implemented throughout CBT. As I reflected on this I was convinced that, if I had had more time to further explore John’s reluctance to talk about his personal relationships (an important ingredient in the therapeutic relationship) John’s experience of my acceptance and understanding would of been more powerful and enabled him to cross other boundaries which had previously seemed beyond his capacity. Ending /follow – UP Form the results shown in Johns psychometric test results CBT has shown to be an effective therapy in reducing the physical and psychological symptoms in a client experiencing GAD. However, caution show be taken when reading the results as other factor could also contribute to the success of therapy non specific e.g., therapeutic relationship between the client and counsellor, buying in to the belief that it will help, and completing relevant assignments, During the final session (session 10) of this case study John was asked if he would give me feedback on how helpful he thought CBT had been towards reaching his goals and resolving her problems? e.g., what went well, what didn’t. On refection, John informed me, although during the early session’s of his therapy, he found it difficult to understand the importance of the thought diaries, through practice, therapy sessions, and as homework, he was able to overcome the difficulties he was experiencing, and it had been well worth the struggle. Furthermore, he has been able to recognize his unhelpful thinking patterns, and biases, were unrealistic, and changing them for more realistic helpful patterns, has given her a more confidence and positive outlook in life. John also found the relaxation exercises very helpful in providing practical strategy s for relieving his feelings of anxiety. On refection, I was aware that some of the difficulties John was experiencing (with his homework) may also have been due to my lack of experience, knowledge and practice skills of CBT On reflection, I would have dealt with this dilemma differently, and taken more time to explain the process of CBT more clearly, at a pace that was more sensitive to his cognitive abilities. Furthermore, I would have discussed the difficulties I was experiencing (during John’s therapy sessions) with my supervisor to eliminating the difficulties I was experiencing. On further reflection, I pleased John had benefited from CBT, and reminded him that he could return for therapy at any time if he felt he needed to ( for relapse prevention), as the service was available to him through ACC and follow up arrangements would be arranged. In Conclusion. The aim of this study was to examine the application of CBT in relation to working with a client experiencing GAD. Form the evidence provided form the results of the CBT intervention implemented in this case study i.e., psychological tests, relaxation techniques and behaviour/ experiments CBT has been shown to be a successful therapy in helping John reach his goals and in resolving his difficulties. . Moreover, there is good evidence to suggest that counselling has an important in preventative role in relation to mental illness: by preventing less serious problems from becoming more serious, and by helping people to maintain reasonably good levels of mental health. Not only for identify unhelpful thinking and behaviour pattern, but for providing strategies toward changing unhelpful patterns for more helpful positive patterns (Beck, Rush, Shaw & Emery, 1979; Padesky, 1996). In addition, and with both the client and counsellor maintaining an therapeutic relationship containing; empathic listening, trust, and genuine concern, counselling has shown to be most successful in helping John finding coping strategies for reducing his symptoms of anxiety. From a practical point of view, although at the beginning I found it difficult to implement the process of the agenda. On reflection, the problem I was experiencing may have been due to my lack of experience in the application of agenda setting. However, as the session went on I stated to gain more confidence in the application of both agenda setting and recognising Sonia’s NATs and core beliefs, In addition, I found the process of agenda setting helpful for focusing, and concentrating on what was important throughout sessions (instead of diverting) and preventing therapy session from being aimless or taking on a ruminative quality, which could of end up reinforcing John’s unhelpful thinking and behaviour patterns. I have learned that CBT is a most effective therapy in enabling a client to be able to identify, reflect on, and come up with alternatives to unhelpful thinking, but as a means to an end, not as an end in itself. From a personal perspective the main issue I experienced was implementing thought diaries, and deciding which interventions to employ during therapy, due to the many choices of intervention available within the “tool box” of CBT interventions, and which interventions were relevant for identifying Sonia’s key problems? However, after reviewing John’s learning style, i.e., a step at a time, and discussing the problem during supervision, the therapeutic relationship was maintained, and the problem was resolved. On reflection, these issues have highlighted weaknesses I need to address. Form a professional standpoint, and in order to address these issues, I need to practice and gain more experience in the application of CBT skills. In addition, I need to think more about what I was doing, and why I was doing it, rather than just thinking about using techniques and strategies. From a personal standpoint I need to gain more confidence within myself, and increase my own self-awareness with regard to the type of questions used and how they are used as at times I felt I was been dialectic. Such refection could be achieved through discourse analysis e.g., video-recordings of therapy session, role play and support through supervision during training. In addition having a better understanding of questioning techniques, and their use in the therapeutic process has the potential to benefit my training and treatment outcomes and professional/personal status as a counsellor References Beck, A. T., Rush, A. J., Shaw, B. F., & Emery, G. (1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: Guilford. Brokovec, T., D. (1993).Efficacy of applied relaxation and cognitive-behavioural therapy in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder, 61(4): pp 611-9. Padesky, C.A., Greenberger, D. (1995) A Clinician’s Guide to Mind Over Mood. New York: Guilford Press. Persons, J.B. (1989) Cognitive Therapy in Practice: A Case Formulation Approach. New York: W.W. Norton. Williams, J.M.G. (1997). Depression. Science and Practice of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 259283. Wells, A. (1999). “A Cognitive Model of Generalized Anxiety Disorder.” Behaviour Modification 23(4): pp, 526–556 Carol Vivyan (2009) www.getselfhelp.co.uk/unhelpful.htm. permission to use for therapy purposes. Huppert, J., D. (2009). The Building Blocks of Treatment in Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy Department of Psychology, 46 ( 4 ) pp: 245–250. The overall aim of the programme is to offer a sufficiently safe, supportive yet challenging learning environment that will enable participants to develop and demonstrate those personal qualities and professional skills deemed necessary for competent and reflective practitioners. Self awareness, counselling theory, practice and research will be integrated to a level that will enable course members to engage with therapeutic process in a range of counselling relationships.