Tag Archives: Psychotherapy

Steps to Developing a Diagnosis

My agency requires assigning a diagnosis after the first session, and this is very hard to do.  How can I give a diagnosis to my client when I don’t have complete information about them?

This agency requirement is probably related to third party billing and the need to document the medical necessity of the services you are providing to the client. While this requirement ensures that your clients have access to the services they need, it can be frustrating as a clinician to assign a diagnosis when you haven’t had a chance to develop a comprehensive understanding of their symptoms. I will suggest a couple of strategies regarding the notation of the diagnosis itself that may alleviate your concern and then  outline a three-step process for arriving at a diagnosis after the first session or after a more thorough assessment.  My comments are based on using the DSM-5, and may need to be adapted if your agency is using the DSM-IV.

One strategy is to check with your supervisor or the billing manager about the use of diagnoses marked “Provisional” when you have incomplete information.  If this is allowed by the third party, it is a way to acknowledge that your diagnosis is tentative.  Situations in which a “provisional” diagnosis are appropriate are when you know a client meets most of the criteria but haven’t confirmed the full set of criteria required for the diagnosis or when the client reports a diagnosis given by another health care provider that you haven’t verified independently. Also ask about the use of “Other Specified” and “Unspecified” diagnoses when you have determined which category the client’s symptoms fit but don’t know whether they meet the criteria for a specific diagnosis within that category.  These diagnoses are often useful when your information is incomplete, if they are acceptable to the third party.

A second aspect of diagnosis that may alleviate some of your concern is to view diagnosis as an ongoing process rather than a decision that is made once for the duration of the client’s treatment. The diagnosis you assign after the first session may not be the diagnosis that accurately reflects the client’s history and symptoms that emerge as you complete an assessment. This will be most likely if you have used “provisional,” “other specified,” or “unspecified” in your diagnosis, but there are other times when the client’s initial presentation differs from the impression you get after four to six more sessions. I also suggest reviewing the diagnosis every six months or whenever you update the treatment plan. This allows you to update the diagnosis if appropriate, to reflect changes in the client’s symptoms or new historical information you have learned.

I have developed a three-step process to help new clinicians develop a diagnosis, and the worksheet reflecting this process is available for download in an online workbook. I find that new clinicians often have difficulty prioritizing the different pieces of information they have about clients, and this leads to confusion in identifying the most accurate diagnosis. A more detailed description of the diagnostic process is contained in Chapter 5 of my book, available through Amazon or Routledge.

My recommendation is to begin by listing the client’s current symptoms and past symptoms reported as part of the history. This ensures that you consider all of the data that is relevant to the client’s diagnosis rather than prematurely focusing on one aspect of the presentation that may lead to an inaccurate diagnosis or may neglect a secondary diagnosis that is clinically important.

Second, make note of the categories in the DSM-5 that fit your client’s symptoms, being as comprehensive as possible.  In the worksheet, I suggest that you note the categories in which symptoms are present (or are part of the history) and then note whether these symptoms are relevant to the current treatment, i.e., part of the reason for the client seeking treatment. This notation will serve as a reminder to address the relevant symptoms in your treatment goals.  Remember to include the “Other Conditions” category if your client has psychosocial stressors, relationship difficulties, or a history of trauma.

The third step is to look at the specific diagnoses within the categories you have noted to see whether your client’s symptoms meet the criteria for one or more diagnoses. If you noted the “Other Conditions” category, review these codes to determine which situational factors are important to include in your diagnosis. Often, your client’s clinical presentation may be best described by one or more diagnoses and one or more Z codes.  If this is the case, choose the diagnosis that best represents the reason for treatment as the primary diagnosis which will be reported for billing purposes. The other diagnoses will be included in your assessment to provide a comprehensive view of the client’s symptoms, history, and current psychosocial stressors.

I hope you find these comments helpful in working with DSM-5 and diagnosis. Please email me with comments, questions, or suggestions for future blog topics.

 

Having Difficult Conversations with Colleagues

I’m seeing a heterosexual couple in couples therapy, and a colleague at my agency is seeing the wife individually. Last week my colleague made a critical comment about the husband and questioned how helpful couples therapy could be. She said this in front of several of our peers, and I didn’t respond because I was shocked and hurt. I think I need to say something to her, because her negative view of the couples therapy will undermine the wife’s participation. There is a lot of conflict in the relationship but they have both expressed a commitment to work it out and stay together.

This is my second blog on the topic of having difficult conversations. It may be helpful to read the prior blog about client conversations if you didn’t do so already. This situation with your colleague is an example of difficult conversations that can arise when we share cases or consult with colleagues about our work. Growing into the role of clinician means developing skills to talk with colleagues as well as clients about uncomfortable issues and areas of conflict. You’ve already made an important first step in deciding that you need to talk with your colleague rather than avoiding a challenging interaction. I would agree that having a disagreement between the individual and couples therapists can be harmful to the client, and I would add that it can also be informative to both the individual and the couple therapy.

I would suggest that you engage in personal reflection before you approach your colleague. It is important to identify 1) the nature of the conflict or difficulty you are experiencing with your colleague, 2) assumptions you may be making about the reasons for the conflict, and 3) the desired outcome of a conversation. During this process, it may be helpful to consult with another trusted colleague or your supervisor to sort through your feelings and hear some alternative explanations or outcomes you may not have considered.

When you reflect on the nature of the conflict, identify the content or issues of disagreement as well as the emotions associated with the conflict. In this instance, you mention shock and hurt, but you may notice other emotions that have arisen since then. If you find that the issue and associated emotions are similar to interactions that have been a struggle in your personal life, it may be helpful to take this to your own therapy as well as getting supervision and consultation.

After you feel clear about the conflict itself, reflect on the assumptions you have about why your colleague made this remark. Usually an emotionally charged interaction leads us to develop explanations for our hurt or angry feelings, and these explanations often include criticism and judgment of yourself or the other person. For example, you may wonder whether your colleague doubts your skill as a couples therapist or whether she has a bias in favor of separation for couples in conflict. Consider other explanations as well, possibly with the help of your supervisor, therapist, or colleagues. One possibility is that the wife is describing her view of and feelings about her husband and marriage differently in her individual therapy than in the couples therapy. This would mean that you and your colleague are holding two disparate parts of the wife’s experience that she hasn’t reconciled.

Third, identify the outcome you desire for your conversation. There are a number of possible outcomes when approaching a colleague about a difficult interaction: expressing your point of view, engaging your colleague in understanding your difference of opinion, and sharing your view of possible reasons for your differences in perspectives are a few. Make sure that the outcome you identify is something that is focused on your communication and is collaborative in nature. A desired outcome of changing your colleague’s point of view establishes a more adversarial tone and is likely to lead to a deterioration of your collaboration rather than strengthening it. If you have difficulty identifying your desired outcome, check with your supervisor, therapist, or another trusted colleague who can maintain neutrality.

Once you have moved through these steps in understanding the interaction with your colleague, you are ready to plan a conversation with her. I would recommend letting her know you’d like to talk and planning a specific time and plan for the conversation. You’re more likely to achieve your desired outcome if both of you have set time aside and if your colleague knows what you want to talk about. Make sure you describe the purpose of the conversation in neutral terms by saying something like “I’d like to talk further about our work with X and the questions you raised last week about the couples therapy.” Follow that statement with some suggested times and a private location where you can talk without disturbance. When you come to the designated time and place, you may benefit from having a clear opening statement about your reason for wanting to have the conversation, setting the tone as positive, curious, and collaborative. An example of an opening statement in your situation might be “I was surprised to hear what you said last week about X’s husband and the couple therapy. I’d like to compare our perspectives to see if we can make sure the two therapies are beneficial to her.” The preparation you have done will enable you to listen to your colleague’s point of view, express yours, and work to establish common ground in understanding your client.

I hope you find these suggestions helpful in addressing difficult conversations with colleagues in your clinical work. Please email me with comments, questions, or suggestions for future blog topics.

Having Difficult Conversations with Clients

Mother and daughter having an argumentI have a client who has been 10-15 minutes late to every session since we started meeting three months ago.  My supervisor says I need to talk with her about this, but I’m afraid she might stop therapy if I confront her.  Is it possible to continue seeing her in therapy without talking about why she’s late?

I sometimes say to my supervisees and people I am training that as mental health practitioners we are in the business of having difficult conversations.  Growing into the role of clinician means developing skills to talk about issues and areas of conflict in a way that is different than usual social conversations.  I’ll discuss first some of the steps that can help us in having these conversations, then address the specific situation you describe.

Each of us comes into the clinical role with interpersonal skills that are familiar and comfortable, and these familiar strategies involve avoiding some type of discomfort.  As we work with different kinds of clients, we find that these interpersonal skills are helpful in some of the situations we face but not in others.  We also face situations with supervisors, peers, and colleagues that may challenge our familiar strategies for coping with conflict or distress.  When we can expand our repertoire of skills in managing these difficult conversations, we are capable of being effective in a broader range of clinical challenges.

In working toward greater interpersonal flexibility, it will be helpful to take some time to reflect on the situation and your emotional responses to it.  Supervision and personal therapy are good resources to use in developing greater self-awareness.  Some steps to consider are to identify 1) the specific nature of the conflict or discomfort you feel, 2) the benefits and limitations of your familiar strategy for managing this type of conflict or discomfort, 3) the fears or worries that arise when you consider handling the situation in a different way, and 4) a small step you could take to expand your skills.  Remember that change usually happens in small steps, so think about developing your interpersonal skills incrementally rather than pressuring yourself to do something dramatically different.

Applying these steps to the specific situation you mention, we start with the nature of the conflict.  It seems your supervisor is suggesting something that you perceive as confrontational, but it isn’t clear whether you perceive the client’s lateness to be a problem and why discussing it would become adversarial.  A starting point would be to explore more of your own response to the client being late and the potential meaning it might have.  This would be something to discuss in supervision as well.  It seems that your familiar strategy with managing this type of conflict is to avoid discussing it directly, so the next step would be to consider the positive and negative results of this type of avoidance in other situations in your life.  It may be that this was the most effective way to respond in your personal relationships, but remember that your job as a clinician is to help your client face and resolve the issues that are interfering with her life.  A limitation of relying solely on avoidance of potential conflict is that your client will not have an opportunity to gain insight into a pattern that may contribute to her difficulties outside of therapy.

A third step to consider is the nature of fears and worries you have about responding differently to this situation.  You express a fear that your client will stop therapy if you discuss her lateness.  This seems to reflect an assumption that she will feel judged or criticized by you and that your therapeutic alliance isn’t strong enough for a conversation about something that affects your work together.  Consider approaching the conversation with curiosity rather than judgment.  You can talk about the issue without requiring that she begin coming on time.  A small step you could take toward handling this situation differently would be to say something like “I notice that you usually come a bit later than our scheduled time and I wonder if there is anything about that you’d like to discuss.”  The client may simply say “no” and move on to another topic, but taking this step moves you into an area that has previously been fearful for you.  You can then look at the meaning of your client’s pattern and additional ways you might discuss it with her.

I hope you find these suggestions helpful in addressing difficult conversations with clients and other professionals in your clinical work.  Please email me with comments, questions, or suggestions for future blog topics.

Sharing Client Information in a Team

Teachers TalkingI am a counselor at a high school, and the teachers often ask me about my clients’ progress. I know they have good intentions, but I’m uncomfortable answering their questions. How much should I share and how do I explain the reason I can’t answer some of their questions?

This is an example of working in a team with other professionals who have different expectations and requirements regarding confidentiality and privacy of information. Your client work is probably covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which carries more limitations on sharing information than the regulations applicable to educational information. It is likely that the teachers know you can’t share fully with them, but your role in the school supports the students’ academic success so it is important to find ways to communicate productively with teachers. This requires that you create a collaborative working relationship with the teachers and other staff in the high school. I will recommend several steps you can take to establish yourself as part of a professional team.

One step is to have a short response regarding confidentiality requirements that you can use when a teacher asks you for specific information. An example is “you probably know I can’t share any details about the counseling, but I’d like to work together within the constraints I have to follow.” This establishes the limits of confidentiality while also communicating your desire to collaborate. Remember that teachers are often working in difficult circumstances and may be looking for support. When you can express your understanding of their concern for the students and the challenges they face in the classroom, the teachers will see you as an ally even if you can’t answer their questions. Follow your statement about confidentiality with an acknowledgement of their concern and desire for the student to get the help he/she needs.

Often, the next step will be to open a conversation with the teacher about how the student is doing in class. You might say “has anything happened lately that I should know about?” or “I’m interested in your perspective on how things are going.” The teacher’s question to you about the student’s progress may represent a desire to tell you something about the student’s life or a recent incident in the classroom. This information can be valuable background in your understanding of the student. Your client may present very differently in your counseling sessions than in the classroom or with teachers and peers. HIPAA limits the information you can share about treatment, but it doesn’t limit what you can hear from others.

You may also want to schedule a more formal conversation with one or more of your student’s teachers to ask specific questions that will aid in your assessment and treatment planning. It is wise to prepare a list of questions in advance so you can be focused in your discussion with the teacher and insure that you get the information you need. As treatment progresses, check in with the teachers periodically to get updates on the student’s progress in the classroom both academically and behaviorally. This information will enhance your review of treatment goals and help you to shape the direction of treatment.

Last, there may be times when you feel it would be helpful for you to share your impressions of the student with one or more teachers. You might have suggestions that the teacher could implement in the classroom or you might be able to provide an explanation for some of the student’s behavior that is otherwise confusing or creates conflict. If this is the case, you will need to have written permission from the parents and/or your client. Generally, parental consent is required for sharing treatment information for children under 18, but some states allow a minor to consent to treatment which would require that you get the student’s permission to share information. Even if it isn’t required by law, it is clinically sound to talk with the student about what you plan to share with the teachers and the reasons you think it would be helpful.

I hope you find these suggestions helpful in working as part of a team. Please email me with comments, questions, or suggestions for future blog topics.

Evaluation of Client Appropriateness for Treatment

worried therapistA client was recently assigned to me, and when I contacted her to set up an appointment she told me she had been in the hospital a month ago because of suicidal thinking. I’m not sure whether I should take on this client since I’m in a practicum and have only seen clients for a few months. What should I do?

It is a very good idea to ask the question of whether a client is appropriate for treatment with you before you begin with anyone new. This situation poses particular challenges because of the client’s recent suicidal thinking, but it is a good idea to take some time to evaluate that question with all new clients assigned to you. I will outline some factors to consider in the evaluation of your client’s risk.

Since you are in a practicum setting, the first step is to consult with your supervisor. She/he needs to know about your client’s hospitalization to determine whether she/he is comfortable supervising the case and proceeding with an initial appointment. If not, you’ll get suggestions on how to refer her to another resource either within or outside your agency. If you get approval to schedule an initial appointment, ask for your supervisor’s guidance about how to make an evaluation that will guide your decision to proceed with ongoing treatment.

Some of the factors I would consider in evaluating your client’s risk and the appropriateness of outpatient treatment are 1) her history of suicidality and hospitalization, 2) her ability to describe the precipitants and current strategies for managing suicidal thinking, 3) her level of engagement in treatment, and 4) the availability of other resources both within your agency and outside. I will discuss each of these factors briefly.

Your client’s history of suicidality and hospitalizations will assist you in determining whether you can help her to manage her symptoms on an outpatient basis. Her risk is lower if this was her first episode and is greater if she has had prior episodes especially if they occurred within the last year. Another area for evaluation of risk is her ability to describe the suicidal episode with some insight into the contributing factors and how she will manage suicidal thoughts that may recur. You’ll want to know whether she has a safety plan and how she has used it since being discharged from the hospital. Outpatient treatment is likely to be more successful if she has developed some insight into the recent episode and if she has strategies for managing recurring symptoms. Some clients adopt an attitude of distance from their symptoms after a hospitalization and are unwilling to talk about a safety plan, stating things are different and the symptoms aren’t going to recur. Although it may seem reassuring to hear this from a client, it is actually indicates a greater risk of future escalation.

While you are meeting with your client, you can assess her level of engagement in treatment by noticing whether she interacts with you in a collaborative manner and has ideas about her needs and plans for using therapy. If she is more passive or doubtful about the usefulness of therapy, it is less likely that you’ll be able to work with her productively. This is especially true if she is unable or unwilling to access other resources in addition to your individual outpatient treatment. Seeing a psychiatrist for medication management, attending a support or psychoeducational group, engaging in couple or family therapy, and/or receiving assistance with financial and housing needs are often vital to the success of therapy with someone who is recovering from an episode of suicidality.

A final step I recommend in evaluating the appropriateness of this client for your case load is to reflect on your experience with suicidality in your personal life as well as in a professional or volunteer capacity. This case may bring up past memories and difficult feelings if you have personal experience, and this is an area to discuss with your supervisor before and after your initial session. At some point, you will need to face this area of difficulty, but you should do this at a time that you feel as prepared and supported as possible.

I hope you find this helpful in evaluating the appropriateness of a client for treatment. Please email me with comments, questions, or suggestions for future blog topics.

Cultural Values in Treatment Goals

counselingI just completed my first session with a 21-year-old Latina who is a first generation American. She seems to rely too heavily on the opinions of her parents and other older members of her family in making decisions about her career and dating life. She said she wants to feel less anxious, and I think that will only happen if she becomes more independent of her family. How shall I talk with her about this?

Before talking with your client about her goals, I would suggest doing some exploration of your views and how they differ from your client’s. This situation highlights the impact of cultural values on treatment goals, and it is important that we examine our values and assumptions before recommending a treatment approach.

The first step in this situation is to recognize that you have developed an agenda that is different from your client’s. Any time this happens, you need to pause, examine the discrepancy, and work to understand your client’s perspective on what is best for her. In this case, you seem to have made some assumptions about your client’s relationship with her elders that will interfere with the therapeutic alliance. Her alliance with your depends on experiencing your respect and support for her in working toward her priorities. Over the course of time, your client may come to desire greater independence from her elders, but your task at the beginning of treatment is to join with her in working toward reducing her anxiety. Otherwise, she may feel undermined in defining what she needs.

The second issue to recognize is the extent to which values and beliefs about developmental goals and relationships are embedded in a cultural context. Your view that independence from parents and other family members is a desirable goal for young adults is no doubt consistent with the values of your cultural community, but your client comes from a cultural community that values interdependence and respect for elders. Talking with your supervisor and other colleagues about these cultural differences will help you to identify the strengths and benefits of your client’s values rather than assuming that she should come to share yours.

Another more complex issue to consider is the extent to which your response to your client may reflect her own conflict about her family relationships. It is helpful to reflect on your countertransference feelings and to talk about them in supervision. If you usually find it easy to join with your client’s agenda, it is possible that your strong opinion about this client’s need for independence represents your resonance with a part of herself that she is reluctant to articulate. If this seems plausible, you can support your client to recognize and sort through the complicated nature of her feelings toward her parents and other family members. This will work in her best interest if you can express an attitude of curiosity rather than judgment and if you help her identify and honor the mixture of different feelings she holds.

I hope you find this helpful in working with clients whose initial treatment goals are different from yours. Please email me with comments, questions, or suggestions for future blog topics.

Impact of Therapist’s Personal History

I have been assigned to see a 12-year-old girl whose father died a year ago, and her mom and teachers report she seems depressed.  My mother died when I was 14, so I have a good idea of what she’s going through and think I’d be a good therapist for her.  My supervisor said she’s concerned that this case could be too close to my own experience, but I think it’s good that I know what’s it’s like to lose a parent. 

This situation illustrates how our personal history informs and affects our work with clients. We have similarities and differences with each client, but the balance between the two is different with each one. When you are working with someone who seems very much like you or with whom you are heavily identified, it is important to rebalance your attention by being aware of the ways in which your experiences diverge. Similarly, when you are struck with how different your life is or has been from your client’s, you need to look for commonality.

In this example, you and your client share the experience of losing a parent in your early adolescence. It is understandable that this common experience takes the foreground of your attention when you think about beginning to work with her. However, there are some important differences that are apparent even in the preliminary information you have: the death of a father compared to the death of a mother and being 12 or 14. Undoubtedly, there are other differences between you and your client in your specific family relationships, cultural background and identities, other developmental events, and personality characteristics. I’ll discuss three strategies to maintain your attention on your client’s needs while minimizing the potential interference of your experience of parental loss.

First, pay careful attention to your tendency to make assumptions in this case. It will be easy to believe that you understand your client’s thoughts and feelings without your usual level of curiosity and information gathering. Err on the side of caution by asking questions or being tentative in your reflections with statements like “are you saying you feel lost?” or “it sounds like you might be angry.” Remember that it is your job to help her on her own journey of grief and loss and that hers will inevitably differ from yours.  She may feel sad in a situation in which you felt angry, or she may feel burdened rather than afraid.

Second, be especially careful when you think about self-disclosure. You will probably think of several examples from your own life and experience that are related to your client’s pain and grief. It may seem as though sharing your experiences will let your client know you understand her and will give her a sense of hope for her own healing. However, self-disclosure always has a risk of diverting the client’s attention from her own experience to yours, especially when she hasn’t asked about your life. In this case, it may be appropriate to share minimal information with your client if she asks. For example, if she asks whether anyone close to you has died, you could say “yes, that did happen when I was a teenager” and you might tell her that your mother died if she asks for any other details. Then I would turn attention back to her experience and how she feels knowing this about you.

Third, a case in which your personal history is similar to your client’s makes supervision extremely important. You may feel that your knowledge of your client’s experience means you don’t need as much guidance from your supervisor as with your other cases. However, as noted above, there is a potential for your clinical judgment to be clouded by this similarity, so discussing this client and her progress in treatment is essential. Your supervisor’s concern suggests that she is aware of this difficulty and will be able to support you in thinking through your emotional responses to the client. You may also find it helpful to talk with your personal therapist about the emotions and memories that arise for you in working with this young woman. You may find that your grief and loss emerge in a new way as you face the issues as a therapist.

I hope you find this helpful in managing the impact of your personal history in your clients’ treatment.

Using Therapist Emotions to Understand the Client

new2I have been seeing a 35-year-old woman for about six months at my practicum site. I left the last session feeling at a loss about how to help her. She was sexually abused as a child, and I’m afraid I don’t have enough experience to be an effective therapist for her. How can I decide whether to refer her to a more experienced clinician or get more training myself?

It sounds like you had a strong emotional response to the recent session with this client that brought up questions for you about your effectiveness. Before making a decision to do something different in the treatment, I would suggest reflecting on your emotions as a way to understand the client in a deeper way. Your feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt may reveal something important about the client’s experience in relationships and her view of herself.

The first step I recommend is to take some time to identify your emotional response to the client more completely. In addition to your own reflection, you may find it helpful to talk about this with your supervisor, therapist, and colleagues. When we feel uncomfortable emotions during and after a session, it is tempting to ignore or avoid them and to take action to reduce our discomfort. Instead, take time to go more deeply into your emotions by identifying the thoughts, images, and physical sensations that accompany the emotion. If you have a mindfulness practice, use that practice to engage with your emotional experience without judgment.

After you have a more complete understanding of your emotional response in this recent session, review what you know about your client’s history, developmental trauma and losses including the sexual abuse, and her current relationship patterns. All of these experiences may be relevant to the emotion that has been stimulated in you. Think about the connections you can make between your emotions and the client’s experience. It is likely that your emotions mirror a painful experience from her past and present relationships. Ask yourself when your client has felt inadequate and ineffective with others. She may or may not have been able to talk directly about these feelings, so you may need to make inferences about feelings she has kept outside of her awareness and aren’t accessible verbally. Supervision is helpful in identifying links between your emotions and the client’s.

Last, identify ways you can respond therapeutically to your client in the face of your feelings of inadequacy. It will help to think about capacities she needs to develop or how she could manage her feelings of inadequacy with greater strength and confidence. An example might be for you to say “it may feel daunting to face the impact of your past but I think our work together can result in you developing different ways of handling the triggers when they arise” or “I wonder if you sometimes feel like giving up and it’s hard to believe things can get better.” If your client is directly questioning your capacity to help her, you can acknowledge her worry along with your commitment with a statement like “you may worry whether your difficulties are more than I can handle and I think that’s an important issue for us to talk about together.”

As you respond therapeutically to the client using your understanding of your emotions as a connection to her experience, you will notice changes in her way of relating to you and changes in your emotional response to her. She may begin talking more directly about her feelings of inadequacy, she may deepen her engagement with the therapy and the pain of her abuse, or you may notice that you’re feeling more sadness about the impact of her trauma rather than worry about helping her. All of these changes are indications that you have used your emotions to further the therapeutic process. If your questions about the effectiveness of the therapy continue, talk further with your supervisor about whether a different therapeutic approach or a referral to additional services would be indicated.

I hope you find this helpful in using your emotional responses to understand your clients. Please email me with comments, questions, or suggestions for future blog topics.

Assessing a Confusing Initial Presentation

Diane SuffridgeI just had the first session with a 22-year-old client at my practicum site. She seems depressed, but there is also something different about her than my other depressed clients. I found it hard to connect with her, which is unusual for me, and she couldn’t really tell me anything about her history. She says her childhood was fine, but she doesn’t remember much until she was about 11. How can I figure out what is going on for her?

You have identified several factors in your client’s initial presentation that leave you feeling uncertain about your diagnosis and conceptualization of her difficulties. An important first step in understanding your client is to acknowledge the confusion you feel rather than rushing to a premature conclusion. It may take several sessions to begin to piece together a cohesive picture, but it is preferable to move slowly than to attempt to resolve your questions too quickly. I’ll outline some approaches I would recommend for the next 3-4 sessions to move toward understanding your client more fully.

It seems likely that this client will benefit from your direct expressions of empathy and understanding. This is the basis of all therapeutic relationships, but your experience that it was hard to connect with her suggests that she has more fear and expectation of harm or rejection than many of your other clients. This may be outside of her awareness, so she probably didn’t say anything directly to reflect fear or mistrust. However, pay particular attention to making reflective statements, summarizing what you understand, and validating her decision to seek help for her distress. This will create a therapeutic atmosphere in which she will gradually develop trust and will be more open in talking about herself.

Since you have identified differences between this client’s presentation and others who describe their problems in a similar way, I would also recommend asking clarifying questions in order to avoid making assumptions about the meaning of her statements. For example, when she says she is depressed, you could say “people experience depression differently—how does it affect you?” or “can you tell me more about what is happening with the depression?” Since aspects of her presentation indicate the possibility of early trauma, I would also recommend reviewing the diagnostic criteria for PTSD and dissociative disorders so you are familiar with symptoms that could be interpreted as depression but are actually the result of trauma. A way to begin to identify dissociation would be to ask something like “would you describe yourself as more sad or more numb?”

As your client feels more comfortable with you, she may begin disclosing unusual symptoms and experiences that go beyond depression. This is another reason to familiarize yourself with other diagnoses, including dissociative and psychotic disorders, that could present similarly to depression. You may want to ask direct questions about these symptoms in order to identify an accurate diagnosis, and it is best to do this in a straightforward, normalizing manner. Examples are “Some people find themselves hearing voices when no one is around. Does this ever happen for you?” or “Sometimes people feel detached from their surroundings or themselves, as though they’re looking at themselves from the outside. Have you ever had that experience?”

Last, I recommend continuing to be aware of your observations and emotional responses to this client. Since she seems to hold large parts of her experience outside of awareness, the nonverbal communication between the two of you will be central in your understanding of her. Including this information in your assessment will lead you to a more accurate diagnosis and case formulation. It is also likely that you will continue to have some questions for the next several months, so continue move slowly in reaching conclusions. Identify what things seem clear and what things are uncertain about her presentation, and hold the ongoing ambiguity.

I hope you find this helpful in assessing clients who have a confusing or puzzling presentation. Please email me with comments, questions, or suggestions for future blog topics.

Ending Therapy or Taking a Break

I am doing my practicum placement in a high school, and I plan to return there next year after a summer break. Several of my clients have said they want to see me again in the fall, so I’m wondering how to talk with them about taking a break and returning to therapy.

It is wise to think ahead about how to handle this situation. I would recommend thinking of the therapy as ending when the school year is over with the possibility of resuming when school begins in the fall. There are many factors outside of the control of you and your student clients that make the continuation of your relationship uncertain. For example, they may move, their presenting issues and symptoms may improve or worsen in a way that changes the decision about your work with them, or the school may set different priorities for which students can receive therapy. There are clinical benefits for clients to engage in a thoughtful process of termination, and they will miss those benefits if you assume continuation of therapy and it isn’t possible to do so.

I have previously published some general guidelines related to psychotherapy termination which may be helpful to reference (Psychotherapy Termination and Termination Tasks). There are some additional issues that are present when you may be resuming therapy in a few months. The first is the variation in your feelings of closeness and enjoyment with different clients. Talk with your supervisor about your countertransference feelings related to all of your student clients and your preference for seeing them next year or discontinuing permanently. It is important to examine these preferences and to discuss your plans to return to the placement next year in the same way with all of your clients. If you are more explicit with some clients than others about returning to therapy next year, you are probably expressing your countertransference, unless your statement is based on a clear clinical decision approved by your supervisor. Examining and understanding the countertransference is preferable.

A second issue is the likelihood of changes in the life of your clients over the summer, both logistically and psychologically. The client may feel differently about therapy in a few months, and issues in her life may change in a way that affects her decision. Your desire to focus on the continuation rather than termination of therapy may be a way of avoiding the potential loss of ending your therapeutic relationships and the realistic ambiguity about the coming school year. Maintaining a focus on the ending of the current therapy by reviewing the progress that has been made and acknowledging the importance of your relationship with each other provides more therapeutic benefit to your client.

Third, talk with your supervisor about recommendations you may make to your clients and their parents about ways to reinforce the gains they have made in therapy. Parents and teenagers often view summer as a time for vacation from therapy, especially when therapy has taken place at school. However, your clients may be participating in activities that provide opportunities to practice some of the coping skills they have acquired or to take on new social and emotional challenges.

I hope you find this helpful in managing psychotherapy termination when the circumstances are ambiguous. Please email me with comments, questions, or suggestions for future blog topics.