QUESTION
Jude is a 35-year-old accountant and a part-time graduate student. Two months ago, his wife gave birth to their first child. Since then, he has been having difficulty juggling work, studies, and his new responsibilities as a father. He has been having difficulties sleeping and as a result, shows up to work feeling exhausted. At work, he has been increasingly irritable and has got into numerous conflicts with his colleagues. Recently, in a fit of anger, he punched and damaged the office printer. Jude’s manager has asked him to seek counselling to manage his anger; otherwise, the company would have no choice but to let him go. Jude is thankful for the opportunity and comes to see you. In the first session, you gathered that Jude has very negative beliefs about himself. He thinks that he is incompetent to be experiencing such challenges. He sees himself as a failure and a disgrace to his family. As such, he has been keeping his wife in the dark regarding his difficulties. He does not want to be a disappointment to his wife, and he believes that he has to sort this out on his own. Additionally, Jude feels pressured to handle his difficulties on his own because he sees his siblings managing their work and families well. He does not want his parents and siblings to perceive him as incompetent.

Present an overview of the Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), clearly describing its key assumptions, principles and structure. Demonstrate your working knowledge of the CBT interventions by selecting appropriate techniques which you might employ with Jude. Describe the techniques chosen, and illustrate with specific examples how you might employ these techniques with Jude.