Background
Darren is a 23 year old African American male basketball player who has been drafted by the NBA. He has an extremely successful college career at a PAC-10 university. He plays the forward position and was one of the leading scorers for his university team.
Darren grew up in a rural town in southern California as the second oldest in his family, and the oldest son. His family was working class and had to struggle to make ends meet. It was difficult for his single mother to raise four boys and two girls on her own, so Darren and his siblings became very close. She is an extremely proud woman who values hard work and never accepted any charity. Darren was often frustrated with how much his mother worked and did not spend time going to his basketball games. As he developed his basketball skills he became more popular at his high school, but he was also known for his quick temper.
Darren is now entering his second year at the NBA level. He is considered the “player” on the team. He has numerous girlfriends and has had several incidents with the media. He likes to “shoot off his mouth,” back talk the coaches, and regularly gets in fights while traveling.
Darren has been referred to you following an incident at a pre-season game. During this game one of the spectators was taunting him continuously. After missing a slam dunk the spectator made a derogatory comment toward Darren. Darren immediately went into the stands and shoved the spectator, causing the spectator to fall over, and he was taken to the emergency room. Darren was suspended for one month, required to pay league fines, and his coach is requiring him to seek support from a mental skills consultant.
On the first session Darren presents in a nonchalant manner. He does not seem to recognize the seriousness of his behavior. “I’m the star, he was egging me on he deserved it. That fan was just a jerk. He should have shut his mouth up.” Darren also stated, “I’ve been in fights before, this is really not that big of deal. Darren has agreed to come to these sessions only because his agent says he has to. As far as he is concerned they are a complete waste of his time.
Instructions
Complete the case evaluation by answering the following:
-
Identify assessment questions
-
diagnose performer
-
rule out other diagnoses
-
analyze impact of culture
-
design a treatment plan
-
provide a list of referrals, if needed.
If you would like to write your response in paragraph format, please do so at the end of the sheet. This can provide a better picture of your assessment process and how you consider approaching the situation. Please be sure to list the symptoms that helped you determine the diagnosis and specifiers. Refer to the hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) to guide diagnostic and treatment modalities from an evidence-based perspective.
This assignment must be 5-7 pages (excluding the title and reference page).