course material

1. Developmental Life Stages
This is NOT an essay. Format into two separate sections: A) You as a client. B) You as a
psychologist. Below are four developmental life stages. Select one that is the age of yourself-
as-client. Another choice will help define the life situation of your client when you are the
psychologist in part B. Child (between 5 and 11 years) Adolescent (between 13 and 20
years) Adult (any age after 21) Geriatric (any age after 70) PART A Select an age and gender
for you-as-client. This is a way to build empathy and understanding the possible experience
of being a client – at any age – with an exploration of a slightly different personality. As a
client, you do NOT have to be yourself. You can be either gender, any ethnic identity, any
socio-economic status, presenting with a unique situation and problem. Build a description
of yourself as client. Be succinct, strait to the point, no more than 2 – 3 sentences What is
your life situation? What is the main problem you present to the psychologist? For example,
as a client, do you have trauma (from abuse, neglect, war, gangs, etc.), depression/ anxiety,
learning disability, relationship problem, identity/cultural challenge, a life stage concern –
such as adolescents or mid-life transition, or end of life? AS CLIENT – You can pretend this
was successful therapy OR not successful therapy. The main goal is to show that you grasp
theory and how it might manifest in therapy with you as the client. You are reflecting on
how clients experience theories. As the client, it is one year later, you have been in therapy
with one or several therapists who specialize in a specific theory. After a year you are
interviewed about your experience. Exit interview with a researcher: Who was your
psychologist? Name one or several well-known theorists no matter the era such as Anna
Freud, Carl Rogers, Victor Frankl or others). You get to have any therapist among all the
well-known theorists. Or several at the same time. What theory (theories) did your
therapist use? (assume the psychologist told you the theory). What did the psychologist do/
say that was helpful and what was not helpful? (this shows the limits and usefulness of the
theory) What was therapy like for you with this psychologist? In other words, what was
your experience as a client with the psychologist (s), given his or her approach? Did you feel
that your therapist understood and acknowledged your problems, that his or her approach
worked well with you and your concerns? What makes you think so? What was the main
approach he or she used with you – stream of consciousness, talk, hypnosis, role-play,
medication, other approach etc. Be sure this approach matches the theory you said the
psychologist(s) are noted for. What psychological test did your therapist use and how was
the test helpful or not helpful for you? (be specific, keep responses academic even though
you are in the role of client) What alternative theory could your therapist have used? How

2. might this alternative theory have been helpful or not helpful in your treatment? (limits/
benefits of the alternative theory)#Developmental #Life #Stages