Kathleen and Lisa, a couple in counseling, are exploring the possibility of starting a family together while addressing personal and familial challenges, including issues related to their sexual orientation. They engaged in weekly sessions for 15 weeks, using measurement tools to track their progress and enhance communication strategies, which led to improved relationships and understanding. The document highlights the importance of research proposals in social work and outlines the necessary components for crafting an effective proposal based on the couple's counseling case study.

1. Social Work Research: Couples Counseling
Kathleen is a 37-year-old, Caucasian female of Irish descent,
and her partner, Lisa, is a 38-year-old, Caucasian female with a
Hungarian ethnic background. Kathleen reports that she has a
long family history of substance use but has never used alcohol
or drugs herself. She does not have a criminal history and
utilized counseling services 10 years ago for family issues
regarding her father’s alcohol use. Kathleen works as a nurse in
a local hospital on the cardiac floor where she has been
employed for 8 years.
Lisa reports experimenting with substances during college. She
currently drinks wine on occasion. Lisa does not have a criminal
history. Lisa has had many jobs and stated that she was unable
to find her niche until recently when she took out a loan and
opened a small Hungarian restaurant serving her grandmother’s
recipes. Her restaurant has been open 1 year. Lisa reports that
while she enjoys the work and has found her niche, she must
work constantly to be successful, and she is worried the
business might fail.
Kathleen and Lisa have been together for over 15 years. They
have a close group of friends and see their families on major
holidays. They came to outpatient counseling at a nonprofit
agency to examine the possibility of starting a family together.
They were both feeling ambivalent about it, and it had been the
source of more than a few arguments, so they decided to come
to counseling to address their concerns in a more productive
way. They said they chose this agency because it was
recognized as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
friendly. They asked about my sexual orientation and my history
because they were concerned about my level of experience
working with the issues they were presenting.
I thanked Kathleen and Lisa for sharing this concern, and I
informed them of various programs I had worked in within the
agency, including supportive services for LGBT youth in

2. schools and in the community. I also shared our agency
philosophy and mission, which includes outcome measures and
engaging clients in feedback to evaluate practice.
I explained the tools we used to measure outcomes. The first
form measures how each of them are feeling with regard to their
life and current circumstances. There are four different scales to
measure aspects of their lives, such as social, family, emotional
health, etc. I also provided the chart on which I score the scales
and track progress. I explained that the purpose was to see
where they began to demonstrate progress with the work we
were doing.
The second form measures how well I am providing treatment. I
demonstrated the four scales that measure if the client feels
heard and understood and if we addressed in session what they
wanted to. I explained that this should address their concern
about my ability to assist them. Because we would be evaluating
both how they felt and how the sessions were going each week,
we could make adjustments on treatment and delivery style.
I informed Kathleen and Lisa that both measurement tools were
obtained from the National Registry of Evidence-Based
Programs and Practices. We use these tools in the agency to
assess the experience of the client and whether the goals of
treatment are being achieved. Lisa questioned how the
information would be used, and I told them that this information
would be shared with them weekly and would only be in their
chart.
Lisa and Kathleen came every week for 15 weeks. In that time,
we charted each week using both tools. The chart demonstrated
significant progress and then began to level off. During that
time, Kathleen and Lisa worked on effective communication
strategies to discuss the presenting issues. The arguments had
become less frequent and shorter in duration as both Kathleen
and Lisa learned to appreciate the other’s perspective. They
expressed that some members of their families of origin were
not supportive of their sexual orientation, and this was the main
challenge for them as a couple. They were able to identify their

3. strengths and not let family or societal opinions inform how
they wanted to live. They were able to see that this was their
decision.
During treatment there were times when the measurement tool
indicated that they felt we were not connecting on certain
issues. As I could pinpoint when that was and the topic we
discussed, we were able to address it in the next session to
clarify and get back on track.
SOCW 6301 Week 4
Assignment: Introduction to Research Proposals
Just because you thought of an interesting research question and
have a desire to conduct research does not mean that your
research will automatically be supported by faculty or funded
by an organization. In order to gain stakeholder approval, you
must submit a research proposal. Much like an outline of a
paper or a treatment of a movie script, the research proposal
contains several parts that begin with a research question and
end with a literature review. For this Assignment, you compile a
research proposal that includes a research problem, research
question, and a literature review.
For this Assignment, the case studies entitled "Social Work
Research: Couple Counseling" Consider how you might select
among the issues presented to formulate a research proposal.
Be sure to consult the outline in Chapter 14 the Yegidis et al.
text for content suggestions for the sections of a research
proposal. As you review existing research studies, notice how
the authors identify a problem, focus the research question, and
summarize relevant literature. These can provide you with a
model for your research proposal.
Include all of the main sections of a Research report:
Title
Abstract
Introduction
Review of Literature

4. Statement of Research Questions and Hypotheses
Methodology
Findings
Discussion
Limitations
Recommendations for Future Research, Implications for Social
Work
Conclusion
References and Appendices
Submit a 5- to 6-page research proposal
· A Research Proposal stating both a research problem and a
broad research question (may be either qualitative or
quantitative).
· Use a minimum of 8 of the most relevant literature resources
to support the need for the study, define concepts, and define
variables relevant to the question.
· Include a literature review explaining what previous research
has found in relation to your problem and question.
· The literature review should also include a description of
methods used by previous researchers.
· Finally, be sure to explain how your proposed study addresses
a gap in existing knowledge.
Proper English with no run-on sentences is an absolute
requirement!
The paper must contain a minimum of 8 references and
citations.
Yegidis, B. L., Weinbach, R. W., & Myers, L. L. (2018).
Research methods for social workers (8th ed.). New York, NY:
Pearson.
· Review Chapter 4, “Conducting the Literature Review and
Developing Research Hypothesis” (pp. 71-99)
Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen S. M. (Eds.). (2014).
Social work case studies: Foundation year. Baltimore, MD:
Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-
reader].

5. · Social Work Research: Couples Counseling
· Social Work Research: Couples Counseling Social Work
Research: Using Multiple Assessments