Case Study Married Couple No Children Assignment Instructions-1

C ASE S TUDY : M ARRIED C OUPLE N O CHILDREN A SSIGNMENT I NSTRUCTIONS Overview It is critical for the counselor to understand the pressures that couples in the present climate are engaged in within the church and society. While personal research is important, valuable data can be gained from interacting with others and seeing the struggles from their perspective. When mental health professionals think of assessment, the DSM diagnoses comes to mind, however there are assessment items that can be gleamed from assessments that are not in the DSM. This assignment will allow students to use various assessments tools to help couples realize possible issues, but not excluding safety concerns, suicide, various elements of abuse and even possible domestic violence. Instructions Now that you have finished your first Case Study, continuing to identify the pressures that couples in the present climate are engaged in within the church and society becomes even more critical. Note that the formatting of the three Case Study papers will be very similar, but the writing outcomes will be very different due to the differing issues that a non-married couple, a married couple, and a family will present. You will meet with one (1) married couple (first marriage or had a previous marriage ) with no children for at least two sessions. Each session must last about an hour. The first session is the basic interview to build a rapport and answer some basic questions. The second session is when you will have the couple fill out short assessments that you have been assigned. Note that these sessions are not for counseling or diagnosing purposes, but can be considered as a brief “research platform” which you will use to gather data of current couple issues affecting the church and society. You will inform the couple that they will not be identified in any way, other than with basic demographics (age, race, etc.), pronouns (he, she, they, etc.), and titles (husband, wife), to maintain confidentiality. This Case Study is approximately 5–8 pages, not including title and reference pages. Current APA formatting rules must be followed (Cover page, Abstract, 1/2” indents at start of paragraphs, 1” margins, double- spacing, etc.). The paper must include at least 4–5 references in addition to the course textbooks and the Bible (no more than two references can be from online sources/websites). Session 1 – Basic Married Couple Questions: These are just a few questions to guide your interview with the couple. This list is not exhaustive, so you will need to prepare more. Get started on the first session by covering the following questions (note: if a question[s] is/are not applicable to this particular couple, then seek to find other questions to replace it/them):  What are their ages, and how long have they been married?  How long did they date before getting engaged?  How long was it from engagement to the wedding?  What birth order was the husband (first-born, middle-child, etc.)? The wife? Page 1 of 5 EDCO 820

 How has their previous idea of marriage been challenged by being married?  When the couple talks with each other, does the other member feel heard?  What are their individual views on having children (when, how many, etc.)?  How is work around the house (cleaning, yardwork, etc.) divided between them?  How are finances handled (e.g., paying bills, balancing checkbook, etc.)?  When the couple talks with each other, do both members feel heard?  What challenge(s)/issue(s) do they see impacting them the most?  Which member of the couple seems most susceptible to the influence of the challenge(s)?  How does secular society seem to feel about the issue(s)?  How does secular media (TV, news, etc.) seem to feel about the issue(s)?  What has the Church as a whole taught about the issue(s)?  What has their church specifically taught about the issue(s)?  How has their faith been challenged by the issue(s) in the past, and how is it being challenged now??  Do both partners in the marriage feel cared for and like he/she is an important part of the marriage?  As far as the couple can tell, do they respond well to each other’s personality characteristics?  Are there any physical illnesses that the couple is contending with?  What are they doing to fight back against the influence(s)?  Are there any other couples they know that are dealing with the same issue(s) they face, or that they believe could be dealing with the same issue(s)?  Are there any Scriptures they use to remind themselves of what God says about the issue(s)? Session 2 For the second session, you will need to be prepared by making two copies (1 for each partner) from the Gottman book of the following short assessments: Chapter 2:  Part I – Is the conflict avoider style of marriage right for you?  Part II – Are you comfortable with a volatile or validator style of marriage?  Part III – Is there enough love and respect in your marriage? (There are many other assessments in the Gottman text, but these three are the only required ones for this Case Study. Your next Case Study will use others from chapter 3. If your couple wants to complete others, then you can set up a separate time for them to do so.) You will also open and download the PDF document, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Measures Package Process measures of potential relevance to ACT , located under Case Study Page 2 of 5 EDCO 820

Warning: Please remember that you cannot use sections of your previous Case Studies in this paper. To do so would constitute academic Self-plagiarism, using pervious work again in an academic paper. The sections of your previous work will show in the Turnitin plagiarism tool and create a high plagiarism score which will result in a failing grade. In one or two introductory paragraphs, introduce the couple and give their basic demographics from Session 1. Do not give a lengthy description of the first session, only the basic demographics. After your title and introduction paragraphs as described above, use the rest of these directions as the outline format of your paper . What I mean is, allow the Sessions Action Plan be a level one and then your next heading, Analysis be a level two heading and so on. If you scroll down these directions you will notice that Method, and the three headings below it, are level three. If you have questions about proper levels for APA papers, please see the sample paper found in the course or your APA Publication Manual to make sure you format them properly. Session Action Plan Provide a short introductory paragraph to this section. In this introductory paragraph, you must write a sentence describing what you believe is the most problematic/troublesome issue for this couple in bold. The action plan must cover the following three areas (show as level 2 headings: flush left and bold). The first four subheadings (level 2 headings below) must be 1–2 paragraphs (subheading 4 has several level 3 subheadings to it): Analysis Seek to answer these questions: from your interview, explain the strategies, options, and alternatives that the couple has tried to do, or has put in place to help resolve their most troublesome issue. For example, have they had contact with a/their pastor, other church members, friends, family members, or professionals about the issue? Has their pastor/church ever spoken about the issue? What key observations did you make during your interview with this couple? Elaborate on the verbal/non-verbal behaviors presented by the couple. Evaluation In this section, spend time explaining the results of the assessments taken by the couple. What were the results of each test taken by both individuals? Since there are four short assessments, you will have about 8 scores to discuss. Divide them up by assessment and scores to make it easier for the reader to see what you learned. Summation. In this short section (one or two paragraphs), bring the scores together into an understandable explanation for you couple. This is important for you and your reader. This answers the “so what question”. What does all of this mean or indicate for the couple you are working with? Do the assessments help you and your reader understand the couple better? Creating Working from a Christian counselor’s viewpoint, propose a biblically-based response to the issue that will directly assist the couple to work through the identified issue. Write 2–3 sentences under this subheading to introduce the application (below) of your action plan. Then, show the next four subheadings below as level 3 (1/2” indent, bold, with paragraph starting on the same line). Page 4 of 5 EDCO 820

Method . In one paragraph, introduce your reasoning for choosing the method you would use with the couple (e.g., working with this couple in the home over several sessions; as a seminar done on a Wednesday or Sunday night; over several weeks as an in-home Bible study; done in small groups; done as one large topical group, having an older couple mentor them, etc.). Scriptural and Counseling Support. In the first paragraph, provide specific scriptural support for the method you will use with this couple. Follow that with a second paragraph providing academic/research support (books, articles, etc.) for your proposed method. Concentrate on academic resources; do not use more than two websites. Time-frame. In one paragraph, provide an estimated time-frame for how long the method you chose will last, and a timeline of what would happen during the method. If it is one session, break it down to what will be accomplished in that session, or over several sessions using the chosen method (what each session would be designed to accomplish). Desired Outcome . In the first short paragraph, analyze the possible positives and negatives of your proposal. What is the desired outcome, in the best-case scenario? In the second short paragraph, describe a poorer/negative outcome, and what would be the way you could follow-up with the couple? Conclusion Use this last section to wrap-up with a several sentence overview explaining each of the above sections. Follow that with several sentences listing other possible research/counseling practice needs as they relate to the dating couple’s issue. Also list two-to-three kinds of books, journal articles, trainings, etc., that would be helpful for all counselors who are dealing/may deal with this issue. Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool. Page 5 of 5 EDCO 820