Explain whether you believe the proposed case conceptualization is the most beneficial for the case selected and why

Case Conceptualization

Theory/Theorist: Constructivist Theories

Presenting Problem: Dale is a 52-year-old white man who has had negative verbal and physical interactions with inmates at the prison he guards at. He has worked at the prison for two and a half years. Theses interactions are caused by dale using racist slurs. Dale doesn't want counseling and believes change is not needed but wishes to retain his job. In the past, he was a police officer that couldn't work in a team with minorities and racially profiled those he swore to protect and serve. His racist and misogynistic views have only gotten worse since working in the prison system. Dale also lost all ties with the son from his first wife after he had brought home a Latina girlfriend. Dale has racist views of the country, is degrading toward women and believes he is smarter and better than them. His current wife is submissive to his misogyny, which he enjoys. He also frequently seeks out those with differing views so he can argue with them and point out how minorities receive more help unnecessarily and degrades all minorities.

Hypothesis:Dale has a hard time sympathizing with others. He likely learned his racist behavior from his family growing up. Coworkers, friends, and family have further encouraged his behavior. Since he has gone 52 years acting like this without his beliefs being challenged it will be difficult for him to restructure his behavior and thoughts. Dale and his counselor need to promote positive change during therapy sessions. Through solution-focused counseling Dale will be able to see past his problematic behaviors and thoughts to focus how the future will look after successful therapy (West-Olatunji & Butler, 2022).

Treatment Goal:The goal for Dale's counseling would be to reconsider and restructure his problematic behavior and thoughts through a mixture of solution-focused and narrative counseling. A good way to help Dale would be to focus on the solution and work side by side with him as he works through his treatment. Working with the client and taking a position of "not-knowing" will help a client be more introspective and see the error of his thoughts and beliefs (West-Olatunji & Butler, 2022). In addition to focusing on the solution of counseling, analyzing the narrative Dale holds about his life will be very enlightening. A client's world is built form their experiences and perception of those experiences (West-Olatunji & Butler, 2022). The best course of action for Dale is to have him consider his view on life and why he thinks how he does, then work with the counselor to uncover the error of his ways.

Intervention: Critical Reflection - This intervention looks at clients narrative through dialogue and analysis (West-Olatunji & Butler, 2022). Dale and his counselor would have to consider his racism so that he could better understand it and work on becoming more open. It is so important for Dale to reflect on his behaviors and thoughts that are problematic and restructure his perspective. Dichos - This intervention encourages the client to critically analyze their thoughts and behaviors through proverbs or cultural stories to develop healthier behavior and thoughts (West-Olatunji & Butler, 2022). Restructuring Dales thoughts and behaviors may be more successful if Dale sees his life and experiences through a new light. Coming up with proverbs or sayings that are important to Dale, getting to the bottom of the stories, and reapplying it to his own life to form healthier, non-racist, beliefs will help dale to thrive.

Expected outcomes: Through the interventions described above, Dale will be a better person. He will be less racist and have some empathy toward those he discriminates against. Not only will he have empathy, but he will also be able to understand where his problematic behavior stems from. Critical reflection is important so that a dialogue can begin where Dale's racism is discussed. Dichos, or proverbs, are also very important for Dale to sum up his morals into a saying or story that is important to him so he can restructure his thoughts into a more positive experience for minorities he may interact with.