At the time of evaluation, Mrs. Smith was a 54-year-old white married heterosexual female that was referred by her PCP, Dr. Dell, to assess her psychological and emotional functioning. Specifically, Mrs. Smith complained of headaches, stomach aches, and chest pains, along with depressive and anxious symptoms. Furthermore, Mrs. Smith shared that she felt overly emotional when confronted with stressful situations, which has worsened in the past six months and caused her to feel tearful, fatigued, and easily overwhelmed. In addition, she has experienced less sleep, a reduced appetite, and ruminations.
Mrs. Smith’s test results, combined with her self-reported information, indicated situational stress that significantly impacted her psychological functioning. Her scores on the WAIS-IV, specifically on the PRI, indicated her fluid intelligence is below average when compared to her peers. In addition, Mrs. Smith acknowledged feelings of depression and anxiety, along with feeling less sharp, since her change in occupation 3 months ago. Her results were also indicative that she may struggle to comprehensively understand situations, and experienced anxious and depressive symptoms. Moreover, Mrs. Smith was uncomfortable dealing with her emotions, as she struggled controlling her emotional outbursts. In addition, Mrs. Smith functioned best in simple, well-structured environments. However, when presented with complex situations or environments, she became stressed and cognitively disorganized, which caused anxiety, tension, impulsiveness, poor decision making, and/or discomfort. Mrs. Smith’s results subsequently revealed that she frequently engaged in self-inspecting behaviors, which lead to a sense of personal dissatisfaction and difficulty relating to others. Mrs. …show more content…
Smith’s profile is consistent with Adjustment Disorder (insert specifier here). She reported experiencing depressive and anxiety-related symptoms due to her change in occupation three months ago. Specifically, Mrs. Smith got promoted from assistant bank manager to bank manager. With the promotion, Mrs. Smith had more responsibilities at work. As her test profile revealed she functioned best in simple, well-structured environments, her new job may have been the cause of her situational stress. More specifically, she went from a structured work environment to one that is much more complex and demanding. Similarly, the subsequent stress and complexity of her family issues, specifically her marital issues with her husband, distant relationships with her children, and finding out about her daughter’s narcotic abuse, could have also contributing to her situational stress. Therefore, it can be assumed that Mrs. Smith is experiencing more environmental demands than she can adequately handle at this time. Despite her adjustment issues, Mrs. Smith possessed several strengths. She is intelligent, as she obtained her masters degree and scored in the average range on most of the WAIS-IV subtests, with an above average score on the PSI. In addition, Mrs. Smith salvaged her marriage, despite experiencing marital issues with her husband. Furthermore, she has been consistent and successful with her employment, as she worked for the same bank for the past nine years and recently received a promotion. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. It was recommended that Mrs. Smith seek the services of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist (CBT) to address her adjustment issues (i.e., depression and anxiety) and help teach her how to cognitively manage her stress. Specifically, a CBT therapist could teach her how the cognitive model works, which may significantly improve her symptoms and coping with her
Mrs. Smith’s test results, combined with her self-reported information, indicated situational stress that significantly impacted her psychological functioning. Her scores on the WAIS-IV, specifically on the PRI, indicated her fluid intelligence is below average when compared to her peers. In addition, Mrs. Smith acknowledged feelings of depression and anxiety, along with feeling less sharp, since her change in occupation 3 months ago. Her results were also indicative that she may struggle to comprehensively understand situations, and experienced anxious and depressive symptoms. Moreover, Mrs. Smith was uncomfortable dealing with her emotions, as she struggled controlling her emotional outbursts. In addition, Mrs. Smith functioned best in simple, well-structured environments. However, when presented with complex situations or environments, she became stressed and cognitively disorganized, which caused anxiety, tension, impulsiveness, poor decision making, and/or discomfort. Mrs. Smith’s results subsequently revealed that she frequently engaged in self-inspecting behaviors, which lead to a sense of personal dissatisfaction and difficulty relating to others. Mrs. …show more content…
Smith’s profile is consistent with Adjustment Disorder (insert specifier here). She reported experiencing depressive and anxiety-related symptoms due to her change in occupation three months ago. Specifically, Mrs. Smith got promoted from assistant bank manager to bank manager. With the promotion, Mrs. Smith had more responsibilities at work. As her test profile revealed she functioned best in simple, well-structured environments, her new job may have been the cause of her situational stress. More specifically, she went from a structured work environment to one that is much more complex and demanding. Similarly, the subsequent stress and complexity of her family issues, specifically her marital issues with her husband, distant relationships with her children, and finding out about her daughter’s narcotic abuse, could have also contributing to her situational stress. Therefore, it can be assumed that Mrs. Smith is experiencing more environmental demands than she can adequately handle at this time. Despite her adjustment issues, Mrs. Smith possessed several strengths. She is intelligent, as she obtained her masters degree and scored in the average range on most of the WAIS-IV subtests, with an above average score on the PSI. In addition, Mrs. Smith salvaged her marriage, despite experiencing marital issues with her husband. Furthermore, she has been consistent and successful with her employment, as she worked for the same bank for the past nine years and recently received a promotion. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. It was recommended that Mrs. Smith seek the services of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist (CBT) to address her adjustment issues (i.e., depression and anxiety) and help teach her how to cognitively manage her stress. Specifically, a CBT therapist could teach her how the cognitive model works, which may significantly improve her symptoms and coping with her