Case Study Scenario Jeff is a 40-year-old single father with one 13-year-old child, Roger. Jeff’s wife abandoned the family when Roger was only 6 years old. She is a drug user and has serious financial problems. Further, Roger’s mother may have bipolar disorder since it seems to correspond to her behaviors. Roger’s maternal grandmother has a history of mental health treatment, having been diagnosed and treated for bipolar disorder herself. Recently, Roger has not been focusing at school, is scoring low academically, and is withdrawing emotionally from everyone. He is also asking his father many questions about his mother. Jeff has informed Roger that his mother is “no good”, and that Roger had better begin to do better in school or he is not going to leave the house except to go to school, as he will be grounded indefinitely. In a therapy session with Jeff and Roger, which type of method, would you use to assess family history (such as a family map, genogram, or other approach)? What would be the therapeutic reason for using this specific tool, and how effective do you think it would be? What are the possible positive or negative results that could occur from applying this tool? a. What strategies will you use to teach Jeff behavioral modification principles which he can use for himself and for Roger? This can include specific parenting strategies, operant conditioning, punishment, time-out, positive reinforcement, or others. What is the therapeutic basis for using this specific tool, and how does it work? What are the possible positive or negative results that can occur from applying this tool? b. Which strategy would you use to change the communication pattern in this family, such as first ordered changes, second ordered changes, family sculpting, or role playing? What is the therapeutic reason for using this specific tool and how would you expect it to work? What are the possible positive or negative results that could occur from applying this tool?
