| Summary: | Clinical psychologist George Stricker conducts the fourth of five sessions with a middle-aged African American female client. The client initially presented with depressive symptoms following a divorce and a period of unemployment. The therapist works from an assimilative psychodynamic integration approach, initially checking in with the client on completion of a questionnaire -- in which she indicates a favorable relationship with the therapist and improvement in her condition -- and asks about direction for the remaining sessions. Working from this base, Dr. Stricker intersperses confrontation about the client's job search efforts with validating statements of her emotional experience and accomplishments. Following the therapist's mention of termination of the therapy and his more concerted focus on the client's homework exercises and employment goals, her defenses and somatization become increasingly evident. The therapist works with the client's defenses through a combination of greater silence, redirection to the client's emotional experience versus physical symptoms, and occasional empathic statements to maintain the alliance.
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