Case Study Summary
Mike, a 20-year-old college student, reports feeling depressed and overwhelmed with school, fearing he will fail. He isolates himself in his dorm, playing video games, and struggles to find enjoyment in daily life. He rarely attends class or seeks help from professors. A lifelong introvert, his stress worsened upon starting college, especially in social situations where he fears being judged.
This anxiety leads to concentration issues, stuttering, sweating, and excessive self-criticism after conversations. Following an assessment, the counselor diagnoses him with social anxiety disorder, recommending it as the primary focus of treatment.
Recommended and Avoided Therapy Approaches
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) would be the most efficient for Mike to treat social anxiety disorder. The approach helps patients to explore how their emotions influence their behavior (Spielman et al., 2020). Mike experiences anxious thoughts about social interactions, which guide his actions, leading to isolation.
CBT will help Mile to point out hostile attitudes and substitute them with positive ones. He will cease to focus on thinking about other people’s opinions about him and start interacting with others more easily. As part of CBT, the ABC model can benefit Mile as it can help him learn to identify negative cognitive distortions and behaviors resulting from them.
Psychodynamic psychotherapy can be the least efficient for the patient as the patient noted amplified stress levels after going to college. Therefore, the therapy should focus on his present emotional state to stabilize it and elevate the symptoms. Humanistic therapy would also be inappropriate as it does not target the behaviors associated with dysfunctional thought patterns. Behavioral or cognitive therapy alone would not be helpful either, as they focus only on one aspect of the problem. Mike experiences negative behavioral responses to certain cognitive distortions, which should be treated in combination.
Alternative Therapies
Among alternative therapies, mentalization-based therapy might be helpful for Mike. Anthony Bateman and Peter Fonagy developed it in the 1990s (Mentalization-based therapy, n.d). It teaches patients to acknowledge their feelings and emotions before they lead to certain behaviors. It can be particularly efficient for Mike as his negative thoughts lead to undesired behaviors, which he cannot control.
Somatic therapy is a body-centered therapy that teaches patients to identify their negative emotions and thoughts and control them by using various exercises focusing on the bond between mind and body (Somatic therapy, 2022). The therapy might not be helpful to Mike as it focuses on emotional regulation rather than addressing the problem of complex cognitive-behavioral responses. It can be helpful to reduce the stress levels when Mike feels anxious, but it can only be used as a supporting technique.
References
Mentalization-based therapy. (n.d). Psychology Today. Web.
Somatic therapy. (2022). Psychology Today. Web.
Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax.