Psychology Unit 9 - Disorders Diagnoses and Treatment

Disorders Diagnoses and Treatment

William Rogers

Introduction to Psychology Unit 9

November17, 2013

Kaplan University

Disorders Diagnoses and Treatment

About 1 in every 4 Americans (or over 78 million people) are affected by a psychological disorder (Kessler, Chiu, Demler, & Walters, 2005 Stangor 2010). This statistic is alarming in what seems to be a normal world where we isolate or medicate people with disorders. There is psychological help for people with these different disorders. Recently I have studied and learned how to asses, diagnose, and treat some of these. In the following paragraphs are examples of real life disorder situations that can better help people understand the fight against psychological disorders.

Raymond Clayborn is a 26 year old from South Carolina. When Ray was 24 he was caught in the midst of a liquor store robbery. The owner of the store refused to give up the cash and instead began to combat with the assailant. Ray lost his younger brother in this tragedy. Since then Ray has woke up in cold sweats had dreams of his brother and repeated flashbacks throughout his days. Raymond has distance himself from his fiancé and began to blame himself for not saving Eddie. Ray’s a local garage has closed down because of lack of attention and his fiancé is in financial dilemma. She pulled into the parking lot of chesters (a local gas station) for gas an immediately Raymond became sad and distant, until he seen a child going inside and Raymond flew over as if he was ducking bullets proclaiming to save the child. Since that incident Ray hasn’t been near a gas station or liquor store.

It is clear to me that Raymond is suffering from PTSD. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. People suffer from this disorder after losing a loved one, dealing with sexual assaults or witnessing war casualties or other traumatic events. PTSD can began months or even years after the incident (STANGOR 2010).

I think the best way to treat Raymond would be a Psychodynamic (Psychoanalysis) approach. Engaging in detailed conversation with Raymond may be the best way to get him to realize and confront his psychological disorder. One particular element of Psychodynamic that I would use to help Raymond is Free association.  Free Association is when the therapist listens while the client talks about whatever comes to mind, without any censorship or filtering (STANGOR 2010). I will be looking for some transference during the sessions. Transference is when the patient unconsciously redirects feelings experienced in an important personal relationship toward the therapist (STANGOR 2010). Also I would consider a Humanistic approach to this treatment. Humanistic therapy like Psychodynamic stems from the theories of Sigmund Freud one of the most renown psychologists in history. One aspect of the humanistic approach that I will use is Unconditional Positive Regard. This is where the therapist empathizes with their client. Sort of like the Free Association in Psychodynamic, only now I am responding to the client in a humble concerned manner. It is important that this Therapeutic Alliance is developed. A Therapeutic Alliance is a relationship between the client and the therapist that is facilitated when the therapist is genuine (STANGOR 2010). This should help Ray open up and get on the long road to recovery.