Jake's Anxiety Case Study Essay

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Jake has recently been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. He has been taking more difficult classes this semester, also. Psychologists can take three approaches when looking at Jake 's anxiety: behavioral, cognitive, or humanistic. One psychologist may not treat anxiety the same way as another psychologist.

There are a three possible approaches possible when figuring out the origin of Jake 's anxiety. First, Jake 's anxiety could have originated in his behavior. Behaviorism focuses on learning through observing a patient 's behavior. In this case, Jake 's actions would be observed and taken into account. The second approach would be the cognitive one. Cognitivism studies a person 's thoughts. Particular thoughts might lead to certain actions, leading to Jake 's anxiety. In the past, schoolwork might have been easy for Jake, so he studies like he always has. However, now that he is enrolled in the classes of his major, Jake might feel stress to do as well as he had before, but now with harder material. Jake might be feeling as though his performance in class is more of a punishment now that the coursework is more …show more content…

Psychologists regard the behaviorism, humanism, and cognitive approaches each in its own way. With behaviorism, the psychologist would not study what is going on inside the patient, but rather how the patient carries oneself and interacts with others. If a psychologist uses the cognitive approach, they study the patient 's mind. The psychologist will talk to the patient and understand how the patient is thinking. This could also include the psychologist evaluating how a patient responds to rewards and punishments. With the humanistic approach, the therapist would form a trusting and respectful relationship with the client. The psychologist would listen to the patent and provide unconditional support and positivity. Today, psychologists view the three approaches similarly. The psychologist would approach each patient 's case in the way that makes the