Assessment and Intervention
As you may recall from your theories courses earlier in your program, there are many counseling theories and perspectives upon which to base case conceptualization and treatment. You also may recall that theory integration and modification are important skills for marriage, couple, and family counselors. Your course text presents this kind of theory integration in a model called the integrative couples’ model.
For this week’s Assignment, you apply the integrative couples model to a case study and use it to plan assessment and interventions for the couple in the case. Base your responses on the following case study:
Stella, age 34, and Dan, age 37, present for couples counseling with two primary complaints. First, the partners report that they have been fighting frequently, often several times a day, since their first child was born eight months ago. Second, both partners report that they are "very dissatisfied" with their sexual relationship. Stella reports, and Dan agrees, "We’ve probably had sex about three times since I first got pregnant." Both partners report that they just lack the interest and energy to be sexually intimate with each other.
Stella and Dan report that they have been married for 3 years. They both acknowledge that their sex life "wasn’t great" even before Stella became pregnant, but they report that they previously were not concerned about that aspect of their relationship. However, as Dan says, "Now that we’re fighting in addition to not having sex, it just seems like there’s not much there for us in our relationship at all." Both partners report that they would like to see their sexual relationship, in addition to other aspects of their marriage, improve.
The Assignment (2- to 3-page paper):
? Explain why the integrative couples’ model of sexuality counseling is an appropriate approach for the case study.
? Describe the assessment you would conduct based on the model, including two key components of the assessment. Explain why you would use this assessment.
? Finally, in light of possible information you might gain from the assessment, describe two interventions you might use with the client based on the integrative couples’ model and explain why.
Support your Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. You are to provide a reference list for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.
Introduction
This week, you further explore the issue of competence in sexuality counseling by learning about some specific approaches to sexuality counseling and by considering some basic key competencies necessary to engage in this work. At the most basic level, to be able to conduct sexuality counseling, a counselor needs to be comfortable talking about sexuality with clients. This sounds simple, yet many counselors experience discomfort in discussing sexuality-related topics with clients. Some of the reasons for this include not knowing what words to use, feeling embarrassed, being afraid that the client will feel embarrassed, and feeling uncomfortable discussing such a personal topic with clients.
Even with a basic level of knowledge about sexuality and comfort in discussing sexuality with clients, counselors may feel that they are ?without a map? and uncertain how best to work with clients to help the clients move toward more positive sexual functioning. As such, this week, you explore basic skills in conducting a sexual health and functioning assessment, as well as theoretically and empirically informed approaches to conducting sexuality counseling.
Objectives
By the end of this week, you should be able to:
? Explain inappropriate and offensive statements in sexuality counseling
? Analyze the use of slang in sexuality counseling
? Apply sexuality counseling models to case studies
? Apply assessments and interventions to case studies based on sexuality counseling models
? Explain how personal values and worldviews related to sexuality impact work with clients
Week 2 Learning Resources
This page contains the Learning Resources for this week. Be sure to scroll down the page to see all of this week’s assigned Learning Resources.
Required Resources
Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your syllabus.
Readings
? Course Text: Sexuality Counseling: An Integrative Approach
o Chapter 2, "Theories Applied to Sexuality Counseling"
o Chapter 3, "Assessment in Sexuality Counseling"
o Chapter 4, "Goal Setting, Treatment Planning, and Interventions in Sexuality Counseling"
o Chapter 5, "Maintaining and Validating New Perceptions and Behaviors in Sexuality Counseling"
? Article: Almas, E., & Landmark, B. (2010). Non-pharmacological treatment of sexual problems ? A review of research literature 1970?2008. Sexologies, 19(4), 202?211. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the ScienceDirect database.
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