Psychological Disorders and the Effectiveness of the Therapeutic Approaches

Psychological Disorders
Psychological disorders are conditions that cause individuals to change their mood, personal habits, as well as experience social withdrawal. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the chronic psychological disorders, which develops after a person is exposed to a traumatic event. According to Lancaster, Teeters, Gros, and Back (2016), the traumatic event has to demonstrate exposure to serious injury, sexual violence, or even death. Other traumatic events include accidents, war, assault, and abuse. The need to address psychological disorders is perceived as a critical component of efficient behavioral health service delivery.
Description of a Client with Psychological Disorder
In the case study involving Thomson’s family, William Thompson, a 38-year-old African American who is an Iraq war veteran who seems to have experienced traumatic situations, leading to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). William is also addicted to alcohol, which increases the risk of having PTSD, in addition to losing interest in his career. Some of the most common therapy for managing PTSD among the war and combat veterans are cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic psychotherapy (PDT) (Levi, Bar‐Haim, Kreiss & Fruchter, 2016). Pharmacological intervention could be appropriate in the early stages of demonstrating signs of trauma.
Using the DSM-5 to Diagnose Psychological Disorder
With regard to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5), the patient in this case has experienced a traumatic event, distressing memories of a traumatic event, and has tried to avoid the stimuli linked to the traumatic event (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). William increase the risk of having PTSD by taking alcohol, which creates anxiety and releasing of endorphin, and cannot think properly about his career. Thus, the patient qualifies to be diagnosed with PTSD, which will assist the psychiatrist to find the best treatment option.
Effectiveness of the Therapeutic Approaches
PTSD therapy aims at teaching individuals on how to deal with it, improve, symptoms, and restore their self-esteem. The evaluation of PTSD using DSM-5 is the most appropriate way of diagnosing PTSD, which leads to effective treatment of the patient. A thorough assessment of PTSD symptoms is necessary for effective treatment of the disorder (Lancaster et al., 2016). According to Bruce and Jongsma (2010), some of the therapeutic approaches for managing PTSD include exposure therapy, psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, stress inoculation training, and cognitive processing therapy.
Legal and Ethical Implications Related to Counseling
The rights of patients with psychological disorders are protected by the Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, which protects, promotes, and fulfills their rights during delivery of care, as well as matters connected to mental problems (Bipeta, 2019). On another hand, ethical implications in relation to counseling persons with PTSD should focus on confidentiality and disclosure of information. No healthcare professional or counselor should use the information for PTSD individuals without their consent. While the diagnosis of PTSD is vital in the management of the disorder, psychiatrists may not rely wholly on mental status examination. Bipeta (2019) argued that when mentally ill persons are admitted to hospitals involuntarily, psychiatrists find it hard to gather their history. Thus, it is ethical for family members to be allowed to provide patient information for effective treatment.

Conclusion
People with PTSD can overcome traumatic experiences through appropriate supports, as well as intervention. The idea behind treating PTSD is to transform the thought patterns, which create disturbing events in an individual’s mind. CBT and PDT can assist patients to understand their own influence on traumatic events and find solutions that bring them back to their present life
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Bipeta, R. (2019). Legal and ethical aspects of mental health care. Indian journal of psychological medicine, 41(2), 108.
Bruce, T., & Jongsma, A. (2010). Evidence-based treatment planning for post-traumatic stress disorder [Video file]. Mill Valley, CA: Psychotherapy.net.
Lancaster, C., Teeters, J., Gros, D., & Back, S. (2016). Posttraumatic stress disorder: Overview of evidence-based assessment and treatment. Journal of clinical medicine, 5(11), 105.
Levi, O., Bar‐Haim, Y., Kreiss, Y., & Fruchter, E. (2016). Cognitive–behavioural therapy and psychodynamic psychotherapy in the treatment of combat‐related post‐traumatic stress disorder: A comparative effectiveness study. Clinical psychology & psychotherapy, 23(4), 298-307.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2014). SAMHSA's concept of trauma and guidance for a trauma-informed approach. Rockville, MD: Author. Retrieved from https://store(dot)samhsa(dot)gov/system/files/sma14-4884.pdf
Read the posting above and
Respond to the discussions below by providing one alternative therapeutic approach to the each . one paragraph each. Explain why you suggest this alternative and support your suggestion with evidence-based literature and/or your own experiences with clients.
POSTING( 1)Discussion
According to American Psychological Association (2018), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects over 6% of the US population. It is a psychiatric disorder that occurs after experiencing a traumatic event such as sexual assault, war, terror attack, violence or serious accidents among others. The patients often experience disturbing intense feelings and thoughts regarding the past experience that persist long after the occurrence. Fear, sadness, anger, nightmares or flashbacks and feelings of detachment from the people as well as avoidance of people and situations reminding the event are some of the symptoms demonstrated by the client (American Nurses Association, 2014). This paper seeks to examine posttraumatic stress disorder through the exploration of Thompson Family Case Study.
The client in the case study is William, a 38 year old military captain and veteran of the Iraq war. He is currently a finance lawyer (Laureate Education (Producer), 2012a). However, he is on the verge of losing his job due to posttraumatic stress disorder related issues as well as increased abuse of alcohol. The observation of William revealed the signs and symptoms as well as behaviors associated with PTSD. The client is a veteran of the Iraq war which means that he had experienced and seen very traumatizing events during the war. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5), a previous traumatizing encounter is a major cause of PTSD. He is also avoidance of the thoughts related to the events and does not acknowledge having the disorder. PTSD is also associated with the abuse of substance and William is almost losing his job due to alcohol addiction.
Psychiatric treatment is not always given to every individual with PTSD. This is because the symptoms often disappear with time among some patients. However, for William both psychological and pharmacotherapy approaches are recommended. The psychological therapy that I will use in this will be cognitive behavior therapy which presets effective interventions for behavioral change including the relaxation techniques, change in negative thoughts associated with the traumatic experience as well as development of positive behaviors (Wheeler, 2014). According to the American Psychological Association (2018), cognitive behavior therapy improves the daily functioning and quality of life of the patient. It will also help in the management of alcohol addiction.
Notably, I will provide medical treatment to William. This will involve the prescription of the Sertraline 25 mg PO, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, every day (Wheeler, 2014). This drug is used as the first line treatment for PTSD and it is safer and easily tolerated by many people. The antidepressant is also effective in treating alcohol comorbidities and therefore is essential in alleviating the patents symptoms. The combination of both the psychological and pharmacological therapies will yield positive patient outcomes within a short period. Medication will help the patient participate in the psychotherapy effect successfully.
The patients visit to the hospital intended to seek for solutions to his mental problems. In this case, the expected outcomes based on the therapeutic approaches above include acceptance and acknowledgement of the disorder. Psychotherapy is intended to accept that he is sick and admit treatment. Another outcome expected is change in behavior and management of the alcohol addiction from both the cognitive behavior therapy and antidepressant use. It is also expected that his thought pattern will be altered positively and his job productivity improve from the treatment.in general, the administered therapy seeks to improve the impairments and improve every day functioning of the client
References
American Nurses Association. (2014). Psychiatric-mental health nursing: Scope and standards of practice (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.Standard 3 “Outcomes Identification” (pages 48-49)
American Psychological Association. (2018). Posttraumatic stress disorder. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Retrieved from https://www(dot)apa(dot)org/ptsd-guideline/treatments/cognitive-behavioral-therapy.aspx
Laureate Education (Producer). (2012a). Academic year in residence: Thompson family case study [Multimedia file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Wheeler, K. (Ed.). (2014). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how-to guide for evidence-based practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.
Main Discussion Post(2): (PTSD)
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a chronic mental disorder that results from exposure to traumatic events in someone’s life (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). According to the DSM-5 criteria, PTSD involves exposure or threatened exposure to serious injury, violence, or death in at the minimum one criterion (APA, 2013). In this week’s discussion, we focus on William Thompson, from Thompson’s family case study. William is a military captain and an Iraq war veteran was homeless because of inability to pay the mortgage and had to move in with his bro and is in jeopardy of losing his job due to alcohol and PTSD related concerns (Laureate Education, 2012a). William appears unfocused and having difficulty concentrating. He does not identify himself by his name but does so through his family members. He states “I am the uncle of...” He further speaks of how he moved in with his brother and his wife following failure to pay the mortgage. He says that “they say I have PTSD” instead of “I have PTSD” indicating a kind of depersonalization (Laureate Education, 2012a). William is in jeopardy of losing his job due to his alcohol problem and PTSD. This fits the functional significance criteria for PTSD. There exist various therapeutic approaches that can be used with William. I would prefer the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) for PTSD and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for both PTSD and alcohol abuse. As described by Wheeler (2014), EMDR is a unique kind of psychotherapy that is used to eliminate negative emotions linked with traumatic events’ memories by focusing less on the traumatic event but more on the disturbing feelings that emanate from the event (Wheeler, 2014). The therapist uses a hand motion technique to guide the client’s eye movement from one side to another, just like watching a swinging pendulum. CBT, on the other hand, places its focus on learning to diminish problematic behaviors linked to substance abuse, in this case, alcohol. For William, at this point there are no indications that he needs psychotropic medications but upon further assessment, a decision may be made on whether to prescribe medications or not. The expected outcomes with EMDR are that the patient will learn on how to process the negative feelings to the extent that the traumatic memories can be brought up without producing negative emotions (Khan et al., 2018). The patient will acknowledge his health concern and the need to receive therapy. In regards to CBT, the expected outcomes are the development of the ability to resist alcohol abuse as it is significantly beneficial in helping clients with alcohol use disorders to recognize and modify their risky alcohol abuse behaviors (Khan et al., 2018).
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Khan, A. M., Dar, S., Ahmed, R., Bachu, R., Adnan, M., & Kotapati, V. P. (2018). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy versus Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing in Patients with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials. Cureus, 10(9).
Laureate Education (Producer). (2012a). Academic year in residence: Thompson family case study [Multimedia file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Wheeler, K. (Ed.). (2014). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how-to guide for evidence-based practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.