Psychotherapy Case Study In Psychology

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Psychology as a discipline has produced many theories and interventions focused at making a positive difference in people’s lives. Psychotherapy is a psychological intervention designed to help people resolve their emotional, behavioral and interpersonal problems as well as improve the quality of their lives (Engler & Goleman, 1992, p. 15). The purpose of this essay was to apply a specific therapeutic approach to a chosen case study and to identify the approaches strengths and weaknesses in treating the disorder found in the case study. To introduce the reader to this essay, a brief description of the case study was provided as well as a suggestive diagnosis using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). Further to…show more content…
For the past few years, Zev has developed ritualistic, anxiety-driven behaviors which over time have become more severe. His behaviors have seriously hampered his own as well as his family’s daily routine and his family has grown tiresome of his compulsions. Zev holds the belief that when he performs his very specific rituals dozens of times a day, he is preventing awful things from happening. Examples of these rituals include tapping his fork on the side of his plate five times before taking a bite of his food or when getting undressed placing his shoes exactly an inch apart and exactly parallel to the wall near his bed and inserting a key into the lock of his home which required dozens of attempts and a delay of about 10 minutes while his family waited in the rain because it had to be done the right way. When prevented from performing these tasks he experiences high levels of…show more content…
Whenever Zev was engaged in an activity where he felt it had to be done perfectly and if not done terrible things would occur, he would become anxious. He was able to neutralize this apprehension temporarily by performing his very specific rituals like tapping his fork on the side of his plate five times before taking a bite of his food. This action was therefore reinforced and maintained by the reduction of anxiety (Najmi, Kuckertz & Amir, 2010). This notion is similar to that of the psychoanalytic view, in that the symptom is produced as a means of reducing tension (Kempke & Luyten, 2007). The two theories differ in that the behaviorist will not see his anxiety as being directly attributable to an unconscious urge he may have, nor does it hold the belief that anxiety reduction is mediated by an unconsciously activated defense
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