Case Conceptualization | Assignment

Running head: CASE CONCEPTUALISATION
CASE CONCEPTUALISATION
Name of Student
Name of University
Author note

CASE CONCEPTUALISATION
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Ali is suffering from tremendous level of stress and anxiety following which she has
come to the counselling centre. It is critical note that she is not in control of her emotions and
in the counselling session or rather throughout the counselling session – she was anxious,
stressed and looked, rather appeared very much disoriented. It is to be noted that the subject
had a history of trauma and post the trauma – she had been suffering from post-traumatic
stress and anxiety that is instead disrupting her life, daily day to day work and her studies to a
great extent (DeCou et al., 2019). In the counselling, it can be seen that the subject named Ali
is much disoriented to herself, to the words of the counsellor and to the environment as well
and as the session progressed, the subject became with more focussed with questions of the
interview. As per the client, in a party she was really drunk and she had sex with a man she
was really not willing to but somewhere she held herself guilty for the fact that she was
involved in the process and she was responsible for what happened. The client has insight
problems and she took the incident too hard and was reiterating the self-guilt in her mind
again and again that has caused much stress and distress leading to more deep seated
emotional problems in the client. The subject has panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder
and related anxiety as for the clinical problems. It is noted that the client ha relationship
issues as well as because the client was in short term causal relationship with the person
whom she was going out with and as she was not yet ready for the sexual encounter, that
resulted in conflict of interest after getting drunk in the party but the fact that she allowed the
intimacy to happen and was in confusion about it – result in non-acceptance of her own
action and this presented as a traumatic incident (Hurrell, Draycott & Andrews, 2018). The
subject has sleeping issues as well and as the subject is not being able to sleep because of bad
dreams about the ‘eyes’ of her ex and these are the precipitating factors in the maintained of
her post traumatic symptoms. She has insomnia, boredom, anxiety, stress, low self-esteem,
lack of sound judgement to take care of herself. She has panic attacks and to avoid thinking

CASE CONCEPTUALISATION
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about the trauma and how uncomfortable she was during the sex and how the memories of
the same affected her later afterwards in following six months resulted in more psychosocial
problems in the patient. She has repetitive speech issues and negative perception about the
social surroundings. With poor judgement, the subject is negatively coping with the
psychosocial addictions of drug abuse. She mentioned in the interview, that she takes speed
that keeps her emotions in check and keeps her away from the sleep. She has paranoia, social
anxiety, concentration, attention and focussing problems. Sleeping medications has been
prescribed by her general practioners and as she does not want to sleep out of fear and
anxiety – she is not taking the medication. As for behavioural problems, she has social
isolation, social anxiety and paranoia as well. As per the mental status examination
guidelines, she has low mood and affective issues as well.
Applying the psychodynamic framework of theoretical approach and applying the
Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, the case conceptualization will be
performed and analysed as well. It is to be understood that in the psychodynamic theory, the
unconscious drives and repressed thoughts of trauma play a critical role in the development
of signs and symptoms that is of clinical importance in the subject. In the case of Ali, the
emotional conflict at the time of the sex that turned out to be traumatic event for her and the
mental conflict was repressed in the subject and never transformed or reconciled or
eliminated - led to behavioural, mood and affect, judgement, insight and judgemental
problems in the subject. There are high chances that the subject used mental processes such
as sublimation or rationalisation (as per the psychodynamic theory) to maintain the effect the
effect and negative impact of the trauma in her over the period of six long months that
followed the traumatic experience. Ali had wanted to forget about the event but through
active retrieval of memories and wrong psychosocial actions of substance abuse, she
aggravated the depression. She is in the age group of late adolescence and early adulthood

CASE CONCEPTUALISATION
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that has resulted in more complex issues with her genital stage and having complex emotions
about sexual urge and in relation to having of a complex, subtle sexual experience. In this
case, it turned out to be traumatic for her. According to the psychodynamic theory, the
conflict has slowly and gradually moved out of unconscious to conscious zone of emotional
conflicts and this has occurred due to the recurrent dreams of the traumatic sexual experience
that has triggered and retriggered the negative feelings in the subject. The negative feelings
are about her own self and social surrounding as well. This has affected her interpersonal
relationships and the intrapersonal emotional experiences as well, rendering her social
anxious and emotionally liable as well. According to the case study, inferiority complex is
developed in the person and the subject has done nothing to address her inferior complex
problems through compensation or other methods that has led to more issues in the patient. In
the psychodynamic theory, much importance to given to the mental defences such as
repression, denial and in this case, the subject has shown evidences of denying the truth of the
fact that not only she but the other man was involved in the same as well. She did repress the
traumatic thoughts in a very ineffective manner and the continuous transferring of thoughts
from unconsciousness to consciousness has resulted in the cognitive, social and the
psychosocial issues in the patient (Mahoney, Lynch & Benight, 2019). It is highly important
to understand that the subject has low self-esteem issues, very low self-image issues and also
the self-concept issues that has affected the insight and judgement of the subject very bad.
According to psychosocial stages of development, given by Erik Erikson – the subject is in
the stage of 13-21 years and suffering from identity versus confusion which is a very major
conflict that affects the individual at a psychosocial parameter. Formation of inferiority
complex led to triggering of traumatic memories. According to psychosocial development
theory, gender role confusion is present in the individuals who are in this age stage and the
same has affected the subject as she is not sure of her role as a romantic partner and there are