Client History and Therapy Plan

Client History: Amanda Since birth Amanda seemed to be different than the average baby. Amanda seemed to be the type of child that would get flustered quickly and easily, had much difficulty with fitting into her home and family, and also seemed to be very difficult to soothe when upset. With being new parents, her mom and dad figured it was just a phase that all babies go through. Amanda’s parents took comfort in talking to their friends to hear that they as well were having similar difficulties with their children, but heard that as their friends’ children grew that they all became very normal adults. Amanda however seemed to be going down a much different life path. Her parents began to realize that she was not going to grow out of it rather it seemed to get worse. While Amanda was extremely difficult to soothe when upset it seemed to be even worse if either parent would leave the room; separation anxiety. Amanda would have a horrible screaming fits until either parent would return to the room. This type of behavior was not worry some to the parents as they knew all children had some form of this type of anxiety. Amanda did exhibit good qualities about herself; she was quite loving to her parents and those around her. So her parents would encourage these qualities and thoroughly enjoy their family time together. As Amanda grew into a teenager more changes seem to come to the surface. The enjoyable moments that the family had spent together seemed to lessen. Amanda started to show signs of becoming more ill-tempted and rebellious towards all figures of power; parents and teachers mainly. Amanda had very few friends throughout school though some petty argument would cause that friendship to sour. Amanda started vocalizing how she felt; bored, alone, and misunderstood. Though her parents started to show some concern they again figured it was just a part of “growing up”. As Amanda hit the age of 16, her behavior really spiraled out of control. Her moods were so unpredictable; never knew when things would be good or bad, fighting constantly with her parents which would involve some aspect of violence towards them. With all this coming undone, Amanda’s father noticed some disturbing markings on his daughter’s body. Her father asked her about them but she just shrugged and said that it was from her friend’s dog. Not being convinced of her explanation he pushed her further and after some prying he was able to get the truth from her; self-mutilation. Amanda went on to explain that because of her intense feelings she was having this was her only outlet to release them. Once her father heard these horrible words he knew it was time to seek out help for his daughter. Amanda’s parents did their research and were able to obtain a doctor to bring Amanda too. The psychiatrist talked with Amanda at length asking her as well as her parents about the situation and feelings that Amanda was expressing. With all the information that Amanda’s psychiatrist was able to collect from all parties he was able to give the family some answers; Borderline Personality Disorder. Now that Amanda is an adult she realizes that her condition is really a problem for her. She decided it was time to look into getting help for herself. She came upon my office and decided to try a different approach to her well-being.
Meeting Client/Treatment Plan I met Amanda in our first session and talked with her about my experiences and wanted her to know that we are going to work together to try to give her some balance and a new way of thinking to help her identify her issues and to help her work towards achieving a sense of balance within her life. I first talk with Amanda to hear her story and her concerns. I also reviewed her history per her permission. I wanted to give her the best option as far as a treatment plan for her. I concluded that her best option would be dialectical behavior therapy. Amanda