1. Study the problem to determine the “kind” of problem you are dealing with
2. Figure out the information you need to solve the problem
3. Carefully analyze and interpret the information, drawing reasonable inferences
4. Break the problem down into resolvable chunks
5. Determine your options for action, both short term and long term
6. Evaluate your options, determining advantages and disadvantages
7. Adopt a strategy and monitor the implications of your actions
8. Be ready to revise your strategy if the situation requires it
A client's problem is that he has gained 40-pounds over the past eighteen months and is now considered a Type 2 Diabetic. He is 35-years-old, married with two young children. He works in the IT department of a major university in Waterbury, Connecticut. He says he has been, "stressed and unhappy with his life because he works so hard that he rarely has quality time with his family." He further says that, "his wife read a book about 'emotional eating' and he believes that this is what he does."
How you you begin to address this man's problem using the Problem Solving Process. Make a comment or two; I am not expecting that you will respond to all eight pieces of the process. A comment or two...
16 comments:
I would ask him if he thinks that he emotional eats to relieve stress. I would ask if it helps him when he is stress.
I would ask him to jot down when what why where he eats
encourage him to walk with his family 3x a week can reconnect as well as good for his and families health
The first thing I would ask him is to tell me what he thinks an emotional eater is. The reason I would ask this is it does not state that he read the book. He does not say his wife thinks he is an emotional eater. He needs to define what an emotional eater is and why he thinks he is one.
In class I learned more about how people take on behaviors,habits and lables not because these traits are true but because society gives us labels. For example this man believe he eats due to emotional/stress issues but his wife read that in a book, hmmm... so I would first ask him to write down what he eats,what time of day he eats these food items and what state of mind was he in when eating,then we can evaluate together.
I would ask him if if is over interpreting his self diagnosis, and find out what type of diet his doctor put him on because of his type 2 diabetes. I would also ask if there was a way for him to change his hours by going in esrlier so he can make more time for his family.
There is 2 way to look at this situation. 1st he is crazy because we all go through this phase similar to a midlife crisis, and 2nd let him know the scientific facts. What I mean by the 1st part is that, due to present economy of recession, layoffs, and inflation of everything. It is just a phase of anxiety. He is worried therefore he eats to distract himself. As a result he gets diagnose with diabetes.
Now the 2nd part of scientific fact is being diagnosed with diabetes. Food could be a reason of it, but it wasn’t a cause of it. Educate him by telling him it was heredity, genetics, and not having a healthy diet and exercise triggered his diagnosed.
Furthermore, in order in relieving stress ask if his wife is employed or recommend her to be employed to relieve his financial burden. Instead of her having free time to read a book and become Dr. MOM and nag at him when he gets home.
Just kidding thought I add that in for a laugh.
I would ask him first what he thought about his life and if he was really happy with the way it was. I would have him describe to me a typical day in his life and see what he really goes through. Then I would be able to sense how he really felt and see how much he really cares about what he puts in his mouth; he could be getting anything because he is so busy, or he could be eating constantly because thats what emotional eaters do when they are upset and depressed.
I would work with the client to write a schedule of daily routines. Later we would make family time appointments.
I believe that inorder to study the problem, which is the fact that this young man has gained 40lbs in 18 mo. I would probably try to find out more info like what and when he is eating. Is he following his diet? How he normally deals with stress. What is going on at work and what is going on at home.
I would ask if there is any family history of diabetes, how is coping and adjusting with the situation. If he feels supported by family, and able to comply with new regimes such as eating habits, exercising, if not explore ways that he can, address emotional eating if he agrees it is an issue, at least offer as a possibility. Ask what other things help when he feels stressed, to reduce emotional eating. Utilize strength of wanting to spend quality time with wife as a stress reducer, explore ways to achieve this by going over weekly schedule and making adjustments.
I would have the client think about what is happening in his life when he is eating too much. Are the eating times, in fact, occuring because of an emotional state of mind? If so I would encourage him to communicate more with his wife and family about his feelings instead of turning so quickly to food. Maybe a goal would be to write in a journal everytime he is feeling emotional and then try to open up more communication. We could then go over in the next session what he wrote and what was discussed within the family. I'd then see if he continued to turn to food as much or did the communication lessen this urge.
Well the first thing I would ask this man is to define what is an emotional eater. Sometimes a client will diagnose themselves without knowing the true meaning to the diagnoses. Then I would advise him to look over his diet plan and make sure he is following accordingly to what the dr. has set for him. Then maybe we can talk about how he can change his work schedule around so that he can find the time to spend with his family.
The cause of his weight could be from more than being an emotional eater. There could be other factors such as his diet, the times that he eats and the size of the portions of food that he eats. You need to take all of these into account as well as the possibility of him being an emotional eater to be able to effectively help him. I found a website which explains emotional eating.. http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/emotional-eating-feeding-your-feelings
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