Case study

Section A

 Profile
Name: John Ashley Gading Sales

John ashley G. Sales is 6 years old, the second and youngest son of Mr. Glenn and Mrs. Gemma Sales. They live at 49 mangga street camarin area D, caloocan city. He is a kindergartener at Unit II Camarin D Elementary School. 

 Section B. Joining Process

. In my case study, the child is not too close to me because he used to live with his grandfather in the province. His mother is a regular customer of my mom. They are our neighbors so since the child has not stayed long with his family, I felt that the child was having maladaptive behavior that I often heard of from some of our neighbors. I started to talk first to the mother of my client.  I set some questions to gather all the information that can help for what I wanted to observe from the behavior of their child. Of course I treat them as friends so they feel comfortable with me.  This goes for the mother and his sibling too. I made activities for the child.  I gave him a coloring book and toys while I asked him questions. Like the other therapy, ”The psychoanalytic therapy”, I encourage the child to speak and say whatever he thinks.

Section C

  Presenting problem

•    Based on my resources the child was often involved in violent disturbances especially with his playmates and classmates. But when I spoke to the mother of my client she was not aware of the behavior of her child. She denied the negative or maladaptive behavior of my client existed, although she admitted that her child was hyperactive and aggressive sometimes.

•  According to Ms. Jonalyn Paragas, teacher of my client, she noticed that John was having a problem with his behavior. Sometimes John was involved in fights with his classmates. One of them when John was trying to get the pencil and color of his classmate maybe because at this stage child develop their ego centrism and aside of that reason they both have similar brand of pencil and color that's why John was thought that the materials is own.

D. 1 Psychosocial history
                                      Time line

 

 D.2 Genogram

D. 3 Sociograph

               Sociograph in school
                    Name 3 of your classmates that you would like to share your foods during break time

 Sociograph in the home

Members of your family that you would like to be with you to go in the park

D.4 Personality dynamics for self mastery

               The child has initiative to do his assignments, even some  basic chores like cleaning his room and putting away his toys. He enjoys watching movie cartoons like ben ten and spongebob. At his young age he has good physical abilities and is stronger than other children.

D.5 Personality dynamics for relationships

                The child is not too close to his sister, they often fight and they are not compatible to play with each other. The mother is trying to be fair to her 2 children even though she admitted that her son John is very stubborn and aggressive. That’s why she understands there’s a conflict between her eldest and youngest. But the eldest is very understanding. Sometimes John was being selfish and he wanted to get everything that his sister had like pencil, toys and food, even though he already had his own. But the good thing for John is that he knows his limitations.

         

D.6 Personality Dynamics for Action

               

             At his young age John can eat by himself without the care of his mother. John is not picky, he eats what his mother prefers for him. But in terms of bathing he still in the care of his mom. His mom said John will wait as long as she lets him to take a bath. John can do his own assignments without the guide of his parents and teacher.

               In his school environment most of his classmates said John was too naughty and stubborn. That’s why some of his classmates  don't  want to be his friend.   

  E. Theoretical Framework

In this diagram it shows that the child was affected in his behavior by his environment and family relationships. This concept came from the theory that Albert Bandura studied about the cause of aggressive behavior in some children.

• According to the social learning theory of aggression, people learn aggressive behavior from watching other people display them. It should be noted that although individuals might learn aggressive behavior, they do not necessarily engage in it.

This theory states that people choose to continue aggressive behavior because they are rewarded when they do so and that punishment for aggressive behavior, as well as the modeling of appropriate behavior, can reduce it. Modeling is a crucial part of the social learning theory of aggression. Many of us have met individuals who have been raised in environments where there was a great deal of aggression being modeled.

F. Prognosis

         

            In my case study process, I noticed that the child has difficulty communicating with others.  He has only a few playmates and friends. The mother of my client was not aware of her child’s behavior. When I asked her she denied that her child was having a conflict with his classmates, friends and even his sister. As I can see the child was being spoiled by his mother.  But since I talked to the child, every time he saw me he called me a teacher and said to his friend, "she is my teacher next year".

G. Therapeutic Plan

In this kind of misbehavior of my client the best thing to do is to help aggressive children in the same way we help shy children, teach assertiveness! Of course we are coming at it from a different angle. The first step in changing the pattern of aggressive behavior in this child is to develop a sense of empathy. I will observe and discuss with my client the emotions of others to help him understand how people feel when they are treated badly. TV and books are useful tools for teaching our child to recognize the feelings of others. Treat our child with empathy and respect, and he will learn to treat others the same way. In order to accomplish my objectives to change the misbehavior of the child I have a story that is related to the mistaken behavior of my client.

G.1 Knowledge Building  

At the end of the case study the client Child must: 

• To develops his cognitive thinking skills; comprehension/understanding 
• To know how the child affect his behavior toward to his friends and classmates
•  Build background knowledge   

G.2  Skills Building
At the end of the case study the client Child must:

•       Develop interpersonal skills 

•       Value of time management skills

•        Listening skills

G.3 Attitude Building
At the end of the case study the client Child must:

• Appreciation of other works and things
• Be independent
• Increase positive attitude
• Develop self reliant

H.Therapeutic Intervention

I. Therapeutic Progress

                    

•  J. Therapeutic Result
  
  
  I conducted activities together with a playmate that served as his classmate.  His playmate is only a 4 year old.  From the activities that I made the child was interested to learn and listen but I observed that his misbehavior was always involved.  When I started to tell the story his playmate was restless and did not want to listen so my client always called him, beat him and carried him to his seat back on the floor. And there were times my client always wanted to have a competition with his playmate/classmate. Then after we read the story, I think my client was relating to the situation of the character of the story because he let his playmate play with his toys. Then when we were in our next activity my client was annoying his playmate to join in our activity and I tried to explain to my client that his playmate was too young to play with his Rubik’s. From those activities my client shows his improvement in how to appreciate the feelings of others.  At the end of our activities John and his playmates enjoyed sharing and playing with their toys.
   

• K.
  Summary
  
  
  
  

  This case study describes the mistaken behavior of my client.  His name is John Ashley who is aggressive, hyperactive, and stubborn with his family, friends, and classmates. To become effective the therapist should first build a good relationship with the subject as well as with the family. The next step is to collect all the information regarding the misbehavior of the client. The parent, teacher and classmates gave their observations and experiences on how John was being involved in the problem. On his time line its shows the reason/cause of him being aggressive, hyperactive and stubborn. On the sociograph of school, John has only a few friends while on the genogram of his family the relationship of John and his elder sister has a gap or long distance that shows they are not too close as siblings. Since the child has a problem in terms of interaction, I conducted some activities that can help the child to realize the importance of communicating in a proper way. One of these activities is storytelling; the story was being effective to my client because he shows improvement how to communicate well to others.
  
  
  
  

  
  

  Conclusions

  I therefore conclude that John shows improvement with his behavior.  The process was effective that shows to John the importance of relationships with his family and friends and also the appreciation of the feelings of others. Now John seems happy every time they are playing and also John has an idea how to treat others especially his elder sister. And as a therapist we should have patience with our client and wait until the child is wholly developed to recover from his mistaken behavior.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Recommendations

  I recommend that the parents is still continue their support, love, care and understanding of the behavior of John. But the parents should know the limitations of their son, instead of spoiling them. Parents should know/be aware of how the child develops their mistaken behavior so that we can prevent it as soon as possible. 
  

  
  
  Implications to education and Assessment of young children

  
  
  This case study helps us to understand the emotions and feelings of our client and that we need to provide a learning environment in order to help them change their mistaken behavior. This process takes a long time to become effective. As a therapist/teacher we should be aware of the background experiences of our students, so that we will know what their needs are and how to improve them. This approach is one of the best ways to build a strong relationship and to get trust of our client as well as his family.  As a second parent of our students one of our responsibilities is to teach and guide them to have a better life in the future.

Learning Questions

New Insights in Child Development and Learning

1.      As a professional, what is our role in the child’s development

2.      Why Howard Gardner proposed the eight types of multiple intelligences?

3.      What is the importance of social and moral competence?

4.      How does the social and moral competence develop?

5.      What is the best assessment to easily examine the development of the students?

Determine if additional Information is needed

1.      What are the strategies that we can use to assess or to evaluate the behavior of the students?

2.      How we could say that the teachers have enough knowledge about the curriculum content?

3.      Why teacher need to internalize the place of the authentic process?

4.      How teacher and parents become working partners through collaboration that promotes authentic assessment?

5.      What are the bases or the evidence to see if the result of the assessment is effective or not?

Circular Questioning

1.      What are the common factors that affects in the child behavior?

2.      What are the questions that we can ask that we could not hurt the feelings of the client?

3.      As educators, what advices or things to say that can help for some families to maintain their positive environment especially for those who have an emotional and physical problem?

4.      How does the circular questioning being effective?

5.      In creating a sense of movement why is it important develop a different rhythm for each family members?

Summary in eced11 (AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT)

Joining 

What come first into your mind when you hear the word joining? Yes, there is something to do with the connection, unity. Joining means bringing closer to one another, comes together with in an individual. Joining is one of the key elements that has been discussed for a family therapy. The process of joining begins with the first family contact and continues as the foundation for effective family therapy. Rather than an event, it is more a process of understanding and building rapport with each family member.  General psychotherapy models share the goals of empathy and positive regard for clients.  So why do you think the General psychotherapy models share these goals?  Simply , because along these goals, family therapy integrates with systemic thinking, so that the result is a type of systemic empathy in which the clinician identifies and describes the unique roles and dilemmas experiences by each family members.

Methods of Joining  

Each family has a unique blend of characteristics that serves as interpersonal cues to family.  Additionally, each family has a complex structure that provides roles for interaction among members with the outside world.  Family therapist places a high priority on being attentive and responsive to family members.  Why do you think family therapist place a high priority on being attentive and responsive to family members?  Simply, to have adequate understanding in every individual, about their characteristics and so to respond accordingly.  So, joining is about an attitude and skills.  To connect with the family members, the therapist must convey acceptance as a family members and respect for their way of seeing and doing things.  The therapist must let the family know that they are understood and their views are important.

 Family members must be encouraged to express their feelings and views and to understand that these feelings are normal. 

The therapist can join with the family members in the ff. ways :

1.      Greet each members of the family by name.

2.      Make friendly contact with each member.  The therapist should ask each members what he/ she does, where they live, to share information about children

3.      Respect the family hierarchy.  The therapist must begin with the parents when asking each member about his/her view about the problem.

4.      Acknowledge each member’s experience, position and actions. ( So, Ms. Brown , you think your son runaway because he was angry with you )

5.      Normalize experiences, views and actions. (It is common for people in t\your situation to feel the way you do.)

6.      Validate positive things you can say about family members whenever possible.    (Ms. Jones, I know you have tried your best to help your son.  It shows that you care him.

Selective Joining

It is a process wherein the therapist may often choose to affiliate with the most peripheral members in the family or, in some cases, make some efforts to get closer to the family member who will most likely bring the family to therapy.

There may be occasions when the therapist is unable to join with the family, because it is difficult to join with family in which members have difficult from the therapist personality while these feelings are understandable, therapist must find way to engage the family if they are to be effective in altering the situation.  That is why Milton Erickson developed the process called utilization to address this issue.  He learned to use, rather than challenge, a person’s way of relating.  For example, he would think f hostility as honesty and encouraged the client to use it in solving the problem.  He would reframe detached personality as cautious or careful and search for a context in which this behavior would be advantageous.  Family members must feel that the therapist is supportive and understand them before they change how they interact with each other. 

One trend in family therapy facilitates the joining process by helping the therapist identify family strengths in spite of the severity of the problem.  

Identifying Family Strengths

Knowledge of family strengths helps the therapist understand how families cope with problems and how they promote growth and development.  Focusing on family strengths and resources contributes to the development of self- confidence, inspires hope and enhances growth within the family. Here are some guidelines that’s helps to identify family strengths;

1.      Emphasize positive statements

2.      Encourage family members

3.      Note family interactions that reflect strength and competence

4.      Emphasize times that family members enjoy together

5.      Re frame problems and emphasize what families do well.

Exploring the Referral Process

The referral process includes interaction within the family and between the family and other system.  When individuals are being interviewed alone, it is important to assess whether their motivation for counseling is internal or whether they have been sent by family or friends who want them “fixed”.  Detailed questions about the referral process often help the family therapist expand the definition of the problem.  If intake information has noted previous experiences in therapy, these should also be explored as part of the client’s problem-solving history. 

Sometimes informal helpers become unrecognized influences on the course therapy unless they are identified during such discussion.  This focus on the referral process often provides a micro view of diverse relationships that may have some bearing on the problem.  As this larger context is taken into account, the clinician should then pursue more specific question regarding the potential structure of subsequent therapy session. 

Deciding whom to involve

 Certain questions provide the family therapist with the information necessary to determine the structure of the therapy:

1. How did you decide who would participate in today’s session?
2. Maybe you are more comfortable without _______ here.  Are some reasons why you prefer to leave them out?
3. What do you think might happen if______ were invited?
4. If I became insistent about inviting them, would it be uncomfortable that you might consider dropping out of counseling? 

The answers to these questions help the family therapist determine whether to insist on others’ attendance.  Certainly, there are many situations in which a person’s own framework for help would be violated and such an insistence would be inappropriate.  Conversely, there are times when a family therapist considers the attendance of others to be essential to a positive therapeutic outcome.  To resolve this dilemma successfully, the family therapist should conduct a self-evaluation on these issues: 

1. Have I elicited and acknowledged fears the client has about inviting others to join?
2. Have I illustrated to the client how can I orchestrate a constructive outcome when others are included?
3. Do I know enough about these other people, and do I have the skills necessary to set goals that guarantee the outcome of such meeting?
4. Am I ignoring messages from the client about what essential to them?
5. Am I operating out of a model that narrows my perception of how I can be helpful?
6. Does the client have important information to which I should defer than insisting on a certain structure?

 The answer to these questions can help the practitioner weigh priorities and skills.  In some cases, clients can be shown how inclusion of others is helpful.  However, if clients are still opposed to inviting others after they have explained their reluctance and they have been reassuring explanations, it is imperative that the therapist accept the clients position.

Defining the problem

The definition of the problem evolves from the questions not only about the individual’s opinion but also his/her significant other’s opinion.

This can be accomplished through question that focus initially on family members’ opinions and then move towards the tracking of international sequences.

Assessing clients’ Definition of the Problem

To begin a dialogue about the problem with a family or individual, the family therapist might ask the following questions:

1. What’s brings here?
2. What would be helpful for us to discuss?
3. Who first noticed the problem and how long ago was this?
4. What led you (or another person) to conclude that this was a problem?
5. Who else agrees or disagrees that this is the problem?
6. Who else (inside or outside the family) as an opinion about the problem?
7. Have you or anyone else thought of any other possibilities regarding what the problem might?
8. Are there times when the problem isn’t occurring?  What is going on at those times?
9. What are the differences between times when the problem does and doesn’t occur?
10. What will happen if things don’t change?

It is important to accept the family members’ description of the problem without criticism or premature advice.  It is also essential to validate the importance of each member’ contribution.  If family members interrupt each other, remind them that each will have an opportunity to express his or her view.

A therapist might use the following to help each family member clarify the problem:

1. What do you mean by _____?
2. Give me some examples of_______?
3. Describe a situation when you_____?
4. How does this affect you now?
5. How does ______affect you?
6. Tell me the last time ______happened 

The goal is to help each family members be specific and concrete so that the problem defined more solvable.

Often, a family member presents several problems.  In such cases, clinicians need to clarify the problem by providing questions that prioritize the person’s concerns:

1. What needs to be changed now?
2. So the first change we need to make is ______?
3. What might happen if ______ doesn’t change?
4. What do you think would happen if_____occured?

The therapist also wants to focus on times when the problem is not occurring:

1. When you are able to handle the problem?
2. What are you doing differently in these situations?
3. What seems to be different when you are able to manage?

Group 6 members

Rachel Alajas                                                  Lerry Lamanilao

Cherry H. Billones                                          Jennifer Murao                                                           

Recelyn De Quiroz                                         Maria Love lee Obusan

Michelle Doong                                              Lalaine Sibulangcao