Assignment

Directions: Please answer the following short response questions. Each question should have a 6 to 8 sentence paragraph response. Remember to support your work with APA references and in-text citations. Please visit the Academic Resource Center for concise APA guidelines.

1. Discuss the critical aspects of the therapeutic alliance that make it so important to the counseling relationship.

2. Discuss the various types of coping techniques. Which do you think would be most problematic in a counseling setting?

3. Discuss the importance of goal setting within the therapeutic relationship and explain how this is related to the process of implementation.

4. Discuss the importance of counselors and offenders working together in the therapeutic relationship and maintaining active involvement with the process.

5. During the termination of the counseling relationship, what are the main goals for both the counselor and offender?

6. Explain why behavior therapy may be very successful in some circumstances. Also, identify several circumstances in which behavior therapy may not be successful. Why?

7. Discuss the basic tenets of cognitive therapy. Why, in your opinion, was much of Beck's work concerned with depression?

8. Explain the basic premise of reality therapy. Discuss two of the techniques you think would be most effective with offenders.

9. Explain the basic premise of Gestalt therapy. Discuss the importance of the Impasse.

10. Explain, using your own words, why the therapeutic alliance is so important in confronting offenders.

PART II: CASE STUDY

Directions: Review "The Case of Mike" on page 135 of the text. Develop a treatment plan for Mike. Your final document should be at least 2-3 pages and adhere to APA standards, including in text citations. Please visit the Academic Resource Center for concise APA guidelines.

Mike is a 20-year-old male who has just recently been released from jail. Mike is technically on probation for car theft, though he has been involved in crime to a much greater extent. Mike has been identified as a cocaine user and has been suspected, though not convicted, for dealing cocaine. Mike has been tested for drugs by his probation department and was found positive for cocaine. The county has mandated that Mike receive drug counseling but the drug counselor has referred Mike to your office because the drug counselor suspects that Mike has issues beyond simple drug addiction. In fact, the drug counselor's notes suggest that Mike has Narcissistic personality disorder.

Mike seems to have little regard for the feelings of others. Coupled with this is his complete sensitivity to the comments of others. In fact, his prior fiancé has broken off her relationship with him due to what she calls his "constant need for admiration and attention. He is completely self-centered." After talking with Mike, you quickly find that he has no close friends. As he talks about people who have been close to him, he discounts them for one imperfection or another. These imperfections are all considered severe enough to warrant dismissing the person entirely.Mike makes a point of noting how many have betrayed their loyalty to him or have otherwise failed to give him the credit that he deserves.

When asked about getting caught in the auto theft, he remarks that "well my dumb partner got me out of a hot situation by driving me out in a stolen get-a-way car." (Word on the street has it that Mike was involved in a sour drug deal and was unlikely to have made it out alive if not for his partner.) Mike adds, "you know, I plan everything out perfectly, but you just cannot rely on anybody . . . if you want it done right, do it yourself."

Mike recently has been involved with another woman (unknown to his prior fiancé) who has become pregnant. When she told Mike he said "tough, you can go get an abortion or something, it isn't like we were in love or something."Then he laughed at her and told her to go find some other guy who would shack up with her.

Incidentally, Mike is a very attractive man and he likes to point that out on occasion. "Yeah, I was going to be a male model in L. A., but my agent did not know what he was doing . . . could never get things settled out right . . . so I had to fire him." Mike is very popular with women and has had a constant string of failed relationships due to what he calls "their inability to keep things exciting."

As Mike puts it "hey, I am too smart for this stuff. These people around me, they don't deserve the good life cause they're a bunch of dummies. But me, well I know how to run things and get over on people. And I am not about to let these dummies get in my way.I got it all figured out . . . see?"