OPTION #2. Case Study & Professional Interview
Case studies are a way to demonstrate what you have learned about the helping process,
including integration of helping theories. The professional interview is a way to learn
more about how helpers do their work, and see how it compares to what you are learning
in class. It may also help you solidify ideas you have about your future career.
A. Find a professional in your field and interview them about how they conduct a preliminary
assessment interview. YOU MAY NOT EMAIL THEM—YOU NEED TO SET UP A FACE TO FACE
APPOINTMENT. Use this opportunity to TALK to (not email) a professional in a field within the
helping professions that you are interested. The interview should be about 20-30 minutes and you need
to come prepared with a list of questions. This is your chance to say, “I’m a student and I would like to
get some information about how you assess your clients, or what an intake interview looks like”, etc.
That information will be one of your sources. You need to talk to this professional before you do your 2
case study, and you may need to check in with them after you meet with your interviewee for additional
questions that may arise.
A. Then you will need to find someone with whom you will be interviewing about a specific issue
in their life. The interview should last about 30-40 minutes. You may choose to conduct your initial
interview session with a classmate or someone outside of class. Please verbally identify your scope of
practice during your informed consent to make it very clear to the person with whom you are meeting
that you are not providing counseling or any form of professional help to them. Please let them
know that this is a course assignment and that you may be able to provide referrals and/or resources for
them to get appropriate help, if needed. ***You need to clearly state in your paper if you provided
any referrals or not.
B. Use your active listening skills throughout the interview to gather information and really seek to
understand the person you are interviewing. You should NOT be attempting to problem-solve, but
just listening and attempting to really understand the person’s presenting issue, etc.
Use a fictional name in your paper to protect the client. If information comes up that indicates that you
need to do a referral, do so and include that in your paper. You are welcome to get appropriate referral
information from the professor if you are unsure of where to refer your interviewee and are concerned
about them.
D. PAPER
Please use the following headings in your paper:
Basic Information
Name, age, gender, race/ethnicity, relationship status
sexual orientation (if disclosed by client), current living situation
Presenting Issue
History of issue/problem: onset, duration, intensity
Strengths/Coping Skills: what works and what doesn’t?
Why are they seeking help now (or aren’t)?
Brief History
How do the following impact the presenting issue?
-Family of origin
-Relationships (romantic & friendships)
-Academic/Vocational
Session Overview (majority of paper)
-What did you do during this first session? How did you give informed consent? How did you gather
the required information? Describe the skills you used, how you built trust, etc. Note: This is where you
will reference your professional interview in your case study paper. Integrate what you learned from
the professional as it relates to how you performed your “intake” with your case study. To reference
your professional interview, see the referencing guidelines to learn how to reference a “personal
communication”, or an interview.
-Theory:
What did you notice? (the next 2 sections will be the majority of your paper)
Identify
which THEORY you have selected. Based on your theory, what behavior/thoughts/emotions
are you paying attention to and why? Use the specific language of your theory to describe what you
see. Make sure you identify all the aspects of your theory that relate to this person’s issue(s). 3
Where will you go?
Based on the theory you chose, if you worked with this client as a helper, what would your future
work with this person look like (what would you focus on? what do you think creates change? What
techniques would you use?) This is an opportunity for me to assess if you understand your theory, so
be thorough, yet concise. THIS ALL NEEDS TO BE BASED ON YOUR CHOSEN THEORY,
NOT JUST YOUR OPINION.
-Summarize the session
-What was the goal of this session?
-How would the person whom you interviewed know if there was some resolution to his/her problem?
-What resources are available to the interviewee to help him/her with this issue?
A minimum of three academic resources are required (1-3 peer reviewed journal articles, a credible
on-line source (if applicable), and a professional in your field whom you interviewed as well). You
may use more if you wish.
-Please CITE the resources you have consulted.
SEE THE REFERENCING RESOURCE POSTED AND FOLLOW THOSE GUIDELINES.
This paper must be typed, double-spaced size, 12-point font, and needs to be 10 pages in length.
Please STAPLE the pages together. Remember the University Policy on plagiarism. If a paper is not
properly cited, it will be considered plagiarized. This means that you need to have a reference page, as
well as cite your sources in your paper. Please use APA formatting.
VERY IMPORTANT: REVIEW THE “CLINICAL WRITING INSTRUCTIONS” POSTED
***As discussed in class, you MUST use appropriate language in writing this paper. As you are
describing the background information, you MUST make it clear where you got your information. For
example, you must say for each sentence: “The client reported that she works as an administrator for a
small company. She stated that she has felt “blue” for the last few months after the break up with her
boyfriend of 4 years…..”
As you are conceptualizing what might be going on with the client, you MUST use tentative language.
For example: “According the Client-Center theory, the client may be suffering due to the lack of the
core conditions and to an incongruency between her real and ideal self. She appears to be struggling to
reach self-actualization…..”
You will lose points for not using the proper writing format for this assignment.
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