As a clinical therapist, I recently received a call from a woman who was concerned about her husband's deranged delusions and hallucinations and sought help to determine what she could do to help him. He explained to me that he noticed he was suffering from a disconnection from reality, along with withdrawal from other individuals. The following day she took her husband, a man named John Nash, to the psychological center to get help for him. He initially showed no interest in talking to me and said he didn't think he needed therapy. After he agreed to come see me for a few sessions, I was able to find out a lot about him and his underlying problems. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay I was able to evaluate some of the client's main problems through his wife's description of some of John's atypical behaviors and by analyzing his behaviors and cognitive notions in session. Before therapy began, Alicia (John's wife) said she often found Nash talking to imaginary people, even yelling at the imaginary figures. During the session with Nash, he revealed other issues in his life, such as social anxiety and embarrassment, and a lack of concern about what others regard him (especially his fellow graduate students). As Alicia had also mentioned, she pointed out that she often spoke to people who were simply her hallucinations and that she was dealing with a prevalence of false delusions that continually affected her cognitive thoughts. Film Side Note: In the film “A Beautiful Mind" (2001), John Nash experiences both delusions of grandeur and delusions of persecution. When chatting with a character who exists only in John's head (Charles), John shouts from the balcony at a group of graduate students at Princeton University and says, “I can't waste time with these lectures and books, memorizing the feeble assumptions of lesser mortals” (A Beautiful Mind, 2001). People responded by laughing, because it seemed to them that was just speaking from alone This scene was significant as it highlighted the idea that delusions of grandeur can create a social barrier between affected and unaffected individuals, along with a disconnection from the reality that John encountered. Later in the film, John experiences yet another episode in delusional thinking when he states to Alicia that someone is out to get him. She is greeted by John who aggressively asks her to turn off the lights, as he is convinced that he and his wife are in danger. He goes berserk, screaming at another of his hallucinated characters as she frantically demands to know who he's talking to. John's paranoia is very evident in this scene, as it became evident to Alicia, in which he perceived himself as abnormal and deviant from the norm). With the intuition I have about John, I used the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) to diagnose him with paranoid schizophrenia. Schizophrenia can be described as a chronic psychotic disorder that disrupts an individual's mental and affective processes. Nash showed clear evidence of a severe distortion in his cognitive thinking when he revealed to me his paranoid ideas that people wanted to harm him. In support of this diagnosis, the DSM-5 states that “diagnostic criteria [for schizophrenia] include the persistence of two or more of the following active phase symptoms, each lasting for a significant portion of at least one month: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior, and negative symptoms. John showedexperiences of underlying false delusions, hallucinations of imaginary characters that he recently learned were not actually real, and disorganized speech during our sessions, as he often changed notions rather quickly and talked about ideas in free association with each other. He described particular experiences of social withdrawal from other graduates at school, as well as his lack of attention to what others thought of him, both of which represent common negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Additionally, the DSM-5 stipulates that to warrant a diagnosis of schizophrenia, the patient must demonstrate impaired functioning in interpersonal relationships, self-care, or impaired functioning in the workplace. In sessions with me, John mentioned that he often had interpersonal conflicts with his wife due to her delusional thought processes and hallucinations. He has recognized that this is a serious problem and does not want to argue with his wife, but his illusions are so strong that he cannot change his underlying perceptions at the time of arguments. Finally, the DSM-5 requires that continuous signs of schizophrenia be present for at least 6 months. John confirmed in the session that he had had his symptoms for most of his life. Additionally, I chose to diagnose Nash with paranoid schizophrenia due to frequent discussions of his intense worry that someone was constantly chasing him. As I was developing insights into some of his possible treatment options, I asked him to identify whether he had any psychosocial triggers that could potentially trigger more intense episodes of unrealistic thinking. One difficult aspect of his life that he described was his feelings of intense anguish and extreme pressure to publish his original idea, but not knowing what to write about. (Movie side note: In the movie, Nash was socially marginalized on multiple occasions by the other graduate students, and this could have also been a trigger for the schizophrenic symptoms.) He also finds that he feels considerable pressure during social interactions with others. Furthermore, he explained to me that when he argues seriously with his wife, he tends to see and hear three different people at the time of the argument. A pattern of psychotic symptoms follows with many of Nash's socially challenging interventions, suggesting that these are some possible psychosocial triggers for his episodes. John did not present with any current medical conditions at the time of the sessions, but he informed me of a time when he experienced an episode and his delusions and hallucinations led him to self-harm. This is a behavior commonly observed in schizophrenic individuals. John's delusional thinking has led him to physically injure himself with a harsh objection, and although he has admitted to no recent injury, this has created great concern and I have decided to refer him to some alternative treatment options that will suit his individual needs. Psychological treatment helps people with schizophrenia to live with it and have the best quality of life possible. From my personal meetings and discussions with John, I have concluded that some form of cognitive psychotherapy (also known as cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT) would be very helpful in treating his symptoms. I suggested he try Ellis Rational Emotive Therapy. This type of goal-oriented therapy specializes in ridding clients of negative philosophies and replacing pessimistic thinking with realistic, flexible thinking. By practicing rational and realistic thinking, people using this therapy can find happiness and see negative life situations in a moresensible. The techniques underlying this therapy were developed by Albert Ellis in his ABC model. To further explain this prototype, the “A stands for 'activation of events', which are related to rational or irrational 'beliefs' (B). Beliefs imply 'consequences' (C), which, if the belief is irrational, can be emotional disturbances." In summary, this model aims to help clients understand how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interrelated so they can view the world rationally and increase their overall happiness. The underlying theory behind why RET works so well is due to clients' teachings to not be bothered by unfortunate events, as well as informing them that nothing is good or bad, but the way we view a situation can make it so. Albert Ellis defends this idea and states that “men are not disturbed by things, but by the point of view they have on them”. Furthermore, I believe that this form of therapy would be useful to John Nash in teaching him not to be bothered by his delusions or hallucinations and to see things in a realistic sense. By changing some of his obstructive perceptions, he will be able to identify more successfully with optimistic considerations rather than negative ones. A second form of cognitive psychotherapy I would suggest is called Stress Inoculation Training (SIT). Developed by American psychologist Donald Meichenbaum, this model of therapy has its goals rooted in helping individuals strengthen current coping skills and introduce them to new and effective ways of dealing with life's ailments and distress. Individuals in SIT will learn how to identify triggers and master how to handle situations rationally. The technique underlying the functioning of the SIT is identified in three phases: 1) conceptualization, 2) acquisition and testing of skills and 3) application. The conceptualization phase is the step in which a therapist identifies any triggers causing stress or anxiety. The second part of this type of therapy focuses on cognitive restructuring and behavioral activation, together with the therapist making the patient feel better. The last step, application, is where the client actually puts the skills into practice during the session and may include role-playing, practice, and application of the skills learned. The theory as to why this method works is due to the way SIT makes patients more resistant to stress. Additionally, SIT allows clients to better identify when stress occurs and how it affects their behavior so they can adapt to the situation accordingly. This form of psychotherapy could be helpful to John Nash because when he endures his psychotic episodes, he can recognize his psychotic breaks and implement newly acquired coping mechanisms. Additionally, this treatment may help relieve discomfort resulting from your experiences of delusions and hallucinations. Due to the key differences between each form of CBT, rational emotional therapy would be preferable for this client. RET involves continuous work on the problematic notions that accompany schizophrenia. RET is more long-term and the constant struggle to solve the problem means that the more time passes, the stronger the effects. By comparison, SIT addresses stress as it occurs and does little to address the underlying challenges of schizophrenia. Additionally, RET can have stress-reducing results as schizophrenic thoughts do not take over the client's life because they are taught to question their irrationality, in this case Nash delusions. Please note: this is just an example. Get a personalized document now come on,.