Essay Sample on Agreed-Upon Focus of Therapy for Kalia

Introduction

Kalia is an adolescent girl who is experiencing problems that are affecting her life and development at this crucial stage in life. As is found in the strength-based assessment, she is suffering from depression that has led to her having suicidal thoughts and has made her isolate herself from everyone. The long term goals for the therapy are to ensure that Kalia is free from depression and suicidal thoughts and that she can grow in a normal way as a teenager. It is also important to ensure that her performance at school improves from this outcome. The long-term goal as indicated are agreed upon by the counselor, the parents (Sharece and Alira) and Kalia herself. It is important to note that it may take longer than anticipated as therapy is a slow process which requires cooperation and understanding from all the interested parties (Madsen, 2013).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The measurable long term objective that can be attained from the long-term goal is the improvement in studies that will be able to ensure Kalia follows her dream of being a medic. This can be measured in the next academic year's performance which should be reviewed periodically for each semester. The objective can also be attained if Kalia is free from depression and any suicidal thoughts. If she can get back to her life before the depression struck, improve her education, have friends and be closer with her parents, be free from any stress or depression, then the therapy has been able to achieve the required results. This can only be seen through observation because the symptoms of depression are mostly observed which means that any remission of these symptoms can only be seen through observation. The observations do not have a particular timeframe and should be observed at any time.

Short-Term Goals

Short-term goals are the immediate goals that are to be addressed in therapy. They are the foundation or highway through which we must pass through to attain the long-term goals. Short-term goals involve the interventions that can be done that show that therapy is working. Short-term goals are wider and broader than long-term goals as they represent all the little things that can be achieved in the short-term and can help achieve the long-term goal (Madsen, 2013). As indicated in the earlier paragraph, Kalia likes to keep to herself which also gives her parents a rough time raising her because they do not know what is happening to their daughter and cannot help her. Furthermore, it is important to note that the achievement of the short-term goals is a step towards realizing the long term goal; however, consistency is vital towards ultimately realizing the long-term goal.

The short-term goals that are to be realized in the therapy are that Kalia and her parents should have a better relationship. Also, another short-term goal from the therapy is a better relationship between the parents themselves that involves fewer arguments and quarreling. Outside her home, another short-term goal is to ensure that Kalia enjoys her teenage life.

Indeed, the short term goals for each of the above can be attained by achieving objectives that are connected to them. For one, the objective at home is that the relationship between Kalia and her parents improves because there is going to be more communication between Kalia and her parents and that the family is going to spend more time together doing activities that make them grow closer together. Another short term goal is ensuring that the parents themselves have a better relationship. This will be seen in better interactions that involve less arguments and fighting between the parents. It is also essential that Kalia is able to grow up like a typical adolescent. She should have a social life where she enjoys going to school and making friends with other young individuals like herself. She should also spend more time outside rather than in her room. Attainment of these objectives will go a long way in ensuring that Kalia and her family are able to attain the long term goals that are consistent with the therapy.

Plan for Therapy

The plan for therapy indicates what is going to be done to attain the set goals. It involves the steps that are to be assigned to the involved persons that are going to help ensure that they attain these goals (Madsen, 2013). For this case, the plan for the therapy will involve the efforts taken by Kalia, her parents Sharece and Alira and any other person that is going to help the attainment of said goals. It indicates what each person needs to do, with whom, and the time taken to achieve the objectives.

Sharece and Alira

Kalia's parents need to implement a parenting plan that is going to promote a good relationship between themselves and their daughter and one that is going to foster communication in the family.

Objectives

The parents will make a program and/or timetable for when it is family time with help from the therapist and every member of the family is required to be available during this time.

They should also create a list of what is to be discussed during this time ensuring that each family member contributes to the discussions.

Ensure that Kalia sees the plan and is onboard with the recommendations. Allow for her input in any way she deems fit as it will ease her into the communications.

The plan should run for a month and feedback should be provided as to its effectiveness and what it has been able to achieve. If the plan has any setback, this should be discussed, and measures to address the setback should be provided to ensure that the plan attains what it was meant to achieve.

Kalia

There are activities that will require the mental strength and willingness of Kalia to achieve. These will require her individual input without any help from parents or otherwise. As was taken down during the Planned Change Process Assessment, Kalia should journal down all the activities and moments all through her journey indicating when she felt low and burdened by the giant and where she was at ease and associated well with her parents and other people. She should meet once a week with the therapist (Carl) to discuss the journal and how it relates to her life and the interventions that can be taken to change major aspects of her life.

With the direction of the therapist, Kalia should also venture out more be it by herself or with her parents. The therapist could indicate the number of times in a week and ask Kalia to indicate the same which will also be assessed in her weekly meetings with the counselor.

Support Network

The family has a good support system that could also be helpful in the therapy. Considering that Kalia is having a hard time making friends, the family friends provide a good starting place for Kalia making social interactions that are helpful towards ensuring she overcomes her depression.

The parents, Sharece and Alira, should be encouraged to ensure that they have more interactions with family friends and other people who have teens that can help ensure a social relationship is created, and Kalia can venture out more. It is not good to let everyone know what Kalia is going through lest they stereotype her, however, let her be able to interact on her terms with other people unless she is pushing them away where the intervention of the parents is important in helping her go past her hindrances and barriers.

Ways That Improvement Might First Be Noticed

Improvement is noticed if the recommendations and the therapy plan are followed to the latter (Madsen, 2013). For instance, if the family meetings as recommended by the therapist start happening more with fluidity and all the family members participate fully promoting their relationship and interaction, improvement and healing are on the offing. Also, if Kalia ventures out of her room more, not necessarily outside, but at least spend less time in her room, there is an improvement, and it can be noted that the therapy is working. A great way of noting improvement is when Kalia can make a friend who hangs out with her at home and school. However, people should be careful to note that it is possible that even though the therapy might seem to be working, any small change could cause all the achievements to be washed away.

Indications That Goals Have Been Achieved

Indications that indicate the achievement of goals are necessary because they are the markers that facilitate that what was envisioned at the beginning of the therapy has been realized. Without these indicators, the therapy could go on without an end in sight, yet the therapy has failed to achieve the desired results (Madsen, 2013).

For this case, the indications that the goals have been achieved could be seen in the behavior of Kalia during the therapy period. Changes in her behaviors are the biggest indicators that indeed the therapy has been able to achieve the desired goals. One indicator is that she does not feel the need to isolate herself anymore and has friends as well as people who she interacts with on a daily basis. Another indicator is in her relationship with her parents. The family should have a better relationship that involves better interaction and communication among themselves. If the parents report a dramatic change in their daughter's relationship, that is indeed an indicator that the goals are being achieved.

Another indicator is in the school performance. Kalia was doing well at school, but her performance started deteriorating when she started experiencing these problems. An improved performance at school also shows that Kalia is on her way to healing. Furthermore, if there is nothing to indicate any depression and there are no suicidal thoughts from Kalia, the therapy has worked. If all these are achieved and the quantified results found to be satisfactory, it could well be time to end the therapy session altogether as the goals have been achieved. However, it is essential that the parents and any other involved person to look out for indicators that Kalia might be going backward rather than forward.

References

Madsen, W. C. (2013). Collaborative Therapy with Multi-Stressed Families, Second Edition. New York, NY: Guilford Press.