Levy family – Assessing Clients With Addictive Disorders
To prepare:
- Review this week’s Learning Resources and consider the insights they provide.
- Review the Levy Family video Episodes 1 through 5.
The Levy family – Assessing Clients With Addictive Disorders Assignment
In a 2- to 3-page paper, address the following:
- After watching Episode 1, describe:
- What is Mr. Levy’s perception of the problem?
- What is Mrs. Levy’s perception of the problem?
- What can be some of the implications of the problem on the family as a whole?
- After watching Episode 2, describe:
- What did you think of Mr. Levy’s social worker’s ideas?Levy family – Assessing Clients With Addictive Disorders
- What were your thoughts of her supervisor’s questions about her suggested therapies and his advice to Mr. Levy’s supervisor?
- After watching Episode 3, discuss the following:
- What were your thoughts about the way Mr. Levy’s therapist responded to what Mr. Levy had to say?
- What were your impressions of how the therapist worked with Mr. Levy? What did you think about the therapy session as a whole?
- Informed by your knowledge of pathophysiology, explain the physiology of deep breathing (a common technique that we use in helping clients to manage anxiety). Explain how changing breathing mechanics can alter blood chemistry.
- Describe the therapeutic approach his therapist selected. Would you use exposure therapy with Mr. Levy? Why or why not? What evidence exists to support the use of exposure therapy (or the therapeutic approach you would consider if you disagree with exposure therapy)?
- In Episode 4, Mr. Levy tells a very difficult story about Kurt, his platoon officer.
- Discuss how you would have responded to this revelation.
- Describe how this information would inform your therapeutic approach. What would you say/do next?
- In Episode 5, Mr. Levy’s therapist is having issues with his story.
- Imagine that you were providing supervision to this therapist, how would you respond to her concerns?
- Support your approach with evidence-based literature.
Transcript of video Levy Family:
Episode 1
Program Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
FEMALE SPEAKER: You‘re not dressed? You‘re going to be late for work.
MALE SPEAKER: I‘m not going to work. I‘m sick.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Of courseyou‘re sick. You‘re hungover. Idon’t want the
boys to see you like this. Go back to bed.
MALE SPEAKER: See me like what? I told you, I’m sick.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Well, what do you call it when someone is sick almost
every morning, because they drink every night while they sit in the dark watching
TV?
MALE SPEAKER: You calling me a drunk?
FEMALE SPEAKER: What do you call it?
MALE SPEAKER: I call it, leave me the hell alone.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Baby, you need to stop this. It’s tearing us up. The drinking,
the anger– you’re depressed.
MALE SPEAKER: You said, for better or worse.
FEMALE SPEAKER: My vows don’t cover this. You were never like this before.
You’ve changed. I want us back, the way we used to be.
MALE SPEAKER: That way is dead. It died when I went to Iraq
Levy Family: Episode 2
Program Transcript
FEMALE SPEAKER: I want to thank you for getting me this Levy case. I think it’s
so interesting. Just can’t wait to meet with the client.
MALE SPEAKER: What do you find interesting about it?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Well, he’s just 31. Usually the vets I work with are older. If
they have PTSD, it’s from traumas a long time ago. But Jake, this is all pretty
new to him. He just left Iraq a year ago.
You know, Iwas thinkinghe’d be perfect for one of those newer treatment
options, art therapy, meditation, yoga, something like that. Levy family – Assessing Clients With Addictive Disorders
MALE SPEAKER: Why?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Well, I’ve been dying to try one of them. I’ve read a lot of
good things. Why? What are you thinking?
MALE SPEAKER: I’m thinkingyou should really think about it some more. Think
about your priorities. It’s a good idea to be open-minded about treatment options,
but the needs of the client have to come first, not just some treatment that you or
I might be interested in.
FEMALE SPEAKER: I mean, Iwasn’t saying it like that. I always think of my
clients first.
MALE SPEAKER: OK. But you mentioned meditation, yoga, art therapy. Have
youseen any research or data that measures how effective they are in
treatment?
FEMALE SPEAKER: No.
MALE SPEAKER: Neither have I. There may be good research out there, and
maybe one or two of the treatments that you mentioned might be really good
ideas. I just want to point out that you should meet your client first, meet Jake
before you make any decisions about how to address his issues. Make sense?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Yeah.
Levy Family: Episode 2
Additional Content Attribution
© 2016 Laureate Education, Inc.
Levy Family: Episode 3
Program Transcript
JAKE LEVY: We’d be out on recon in our Humvees, and it would get so hot. We
used to put our water bottles in wet socks and hang them right outside the
window just so the water would cool off of a bit, and maybe then you could drink
it.
Man, it was cramped in there. You’dbe drenched, nowhere to breathe. It’s like
riding around in an oven. And you’d have your helmet on you, 100 pounds of
gear and ammo. I swear, sometimes I feel like it’s still on me, like it’s all still
strapped on me.
FEMALE SPEAKER: How many tours did you do in Iraq?
JAKE LEVY: Three. After that last recon, I just– There were 26 of us. Five
marines in the Humvee I was in. I remember I was wearing my night vision
goggles. We passed through a village and everything was green, like I was in a
dream or under water.
And then there was a flash, bright light just blinded me. There was this explosion.
Ican’t– Ican’t–
FEMALE SPEAKER: It’s OK, Jake. Take it easy. I understand this is difficult.
There’s something I;d like to try with you. It’s called exposure therapy, and it’s a
treatment that’s used a lot with war veterans, especially those struggling with
anxiety and PTSD.
JAKE LEVY: Exposure therapy?
FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes. It’s to help someone like yourself to confront your
feelings and anxieties about a traumatic situation that you’ve experienced. It’s a–
It’s meant to help you get more control of your thoughts, to make sense of what’s
happened, and to not be so afraid of your memories.
JAKE LEVY: Put that in a bottle and I’ll buy 10 cases of it.
FEMALE SPEAKER: Well, one part of it is learning to control your breathing. And
whenyou practice that, you can learn to manage your anxiety, to get more
control of it, not let it control you, to protect yourself. Do you want to try it?
JAKE LEVY: Right now? Levy family – Assessing Clients With Addictive Disorders
FEMALE SPEAKER: Sure.
JAKE LEVY: Why not?
Levy Family: Episode 3
FEMALE SPEAKER: OK. Well, I know this sounds crazy, but a lot of people don’t
breathe properly. And it really comes from bad habits. When they inhale and
exhale, all the effort is here in their chest and shoulders. And the problem with
that is you get a really short, shallow breath. And that really increases the stress
and anxiety in your body.
Instead, a more natural breath should always involve your diaphragm, right here
in your abdomen. When you breath in, your belly should expand. And when you
breath out, your belly should fall. OKJAKE LEVY: OK.
FEMALE SPEAKER: So, let’s practice. Close your eyes. Now, I want you put one
hand on your abdomen and the other across your chest. Good. Good. Now, I just
want you to take a few breaths, just like normal. What are you feeling?
JAKE LEVY: I feel my chest moving up and down. But my belly, nothing.
FEMALE SPEAKER: OK. So that’s what I was just talking about. That’s OK. Let’s
try this. I want you take a breath. And this time, I only want you to allow your
abdomen to expend when you breathe in and to fall when you breathe out.
OK, let’s try it. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.
You feeling better? More relaxed? Levy family – Assessing Clients With Addictive Disorders
