Assignment: Somatic Symptom Disorders Individuals with somatic symptom disorders tend to have considerable difficulty with how they experience and appraise their bodily symptoms. The illness and the dysfunctional focus and behavior around the illness can assume a central role in the person’s life. Somatic symptom disorders were originally thought of as “hysterical,” without legitimate medical causation, or as hypochondriasis. Though thinking has changed, negative judgments about unfounded illnesses can still be attached to individuals with these disorders. The boundary between medical and emotional problems can be further blurred. In some cases, an individual labeled with one of these illnesses may simply be experiencing a developing medical condition that has not yet been well defined. For all of these reasons, social workers need to take particular care in diagnosing somatic symptom disorders and in providing a fully biopsychosocial and multidisciplinary approach. In this Assignment, you describe what that approach might look like for one client. To prepare: Imagine that Jennifer Brea, whose TEDTalk (TED Conferences, LLC, 2016) you watched, is referred to you for ongoing supportive therapy when her psychiatry consultant decides that she does not have a conversion disorder. Despite the psychiatrist’s opinion, her primary care physician ignores that consult and labels Jennifer with the conversion disorder anyway. Be sure to investigate what the ‘conversion’ diagnosis means when responding. Submit a PowerPoint in which you address the following: Explain in a concise professional manner how you would conduct your first meeting with Jennifer. Identify specific steps you would take to understand her circumstance and needs. Explain how you would proceed with her medical team in terms of advocacy for her as a client believed to have this condition. Explain why you would need to take a biopsychosocial approach to her ongoing care. Explain what social, family, vocational, Internet, and medical supports you would explore to help with her longer-term stabilization. Analyze the controversy in diagnosing a mental disorder based on unexplained physical symptoms. Within your analysis, consider how power and privilege influence who provides the diagnoses and which groups are more likely to be diagnosed with certain disorders. Explain your thoughts on this debate.

Required Resources Read/review the following resources for this activity: Textbook: Chapter 28, 29, 30 OpenStax Lesson Minimum of 1 primary source Minimum of 4 scholarly sources (in addition to the textbook) Optional Resources to Explore Feel free to review the library guide for scholarly sources and videos at the following link: Link (website): History Library Guide (Links to an external site.) Introduction The purposes of each case study assignment include the following: To hone your abilities to research using scholarly sources To advance critical thinking and writing skills To compile a response to the prompts provided To explore a historical topic and make connections to change over time Instructions Pick one (1) of the following topics. Then, address the corresponding questions/prompts for your selected topic. Use at least one (1) documented example of the corresponding primary source in your writing. Option 1: McCarthyism and Anti-Communist Campaigns The Cold War brought about an irrational fear of communism and communist activities in the United States. As we are learning this week, one of the most vocal instigators of this paranoia was Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy delivered a speech about the imminent threat of communism on February 9, 1950. Perform a search on the internet and locate and read Joseph McCarthy's speech given in Wheeling, West Virginia on February 9, 1950. Copy and paste the following keywords into your Google search bar: "Joseph McCarthy, Wheeling, West Virginia." The speech is also referred to as "Enemies from Within." Construct the case study by responding to the following prompts: Explain how Senator Joseph McCarthy defined communist nations within the speech. What specific threats did these nations pose? Assess if Senator Joseph McCarthy charges were accurate. Analyze anti-communist sentiments during the Cold War era, were these sentiments valid. If so, how? If not, why not? Explain if there are other examples of events similar to the Red Scare that have occurred throughout history and modern day. Examine what happened to people who invoked the Fifth Amendment, refused to appear or were found in violation of the law as defined by the Congressional Committee. Option 2: The Civil Rights Movement Using the Internet, locate and read Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech given in Washington D.C., August 1963. Copy and paste the following keywords into your Google search bar: "I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King, Jr." Feel free also to locate and incorporate additional scholarly sources to respond to this case study, including information on the Civil Rights Movement. Construct the case study by responding to the following prompts: Explain if the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s effectively changed the nation. What effect would the Civil Rights Acts have across the continent on minority groups? Do you think that the tactics and strategies that civil rights activists used in the 1960s would apply to today's racial and ethnic conflicts? Why or why not? Do the ideas of the 1960s still have relevance today? If so how? If not, why not? Analyze how the Civil Rights Movement would impact diversity in America today. Option 3: American Domestic and Foreign Policies (1953-1991) Complete a search either in the Chamberlain Library or internet for domestic and foreign polices of four (4) of the following Presidents. Please incorporate at least one primary source of either a policy or act that you have chosen to write about. Eisenhower Kennedy Johnson Nixon Ford Carter Reagan Then, compare domestic and foreign polices of your four (4) presidents by answering the following prompts: Explain how your selected presidents worked to improve the United States economically and socially. Give at least one example of each president. Assess if the policies of your choice of presidents strengthen or weaken the United States. Explain how you see your choice of presidents served the public interest and further the cause of democracy. Determine if it is constitutional for the United States to fight preemptive wars. Determine if human rights and morality should be the cornerstones of United State foreign policy.

Prior to beginning work on this discussion read Hill (2013) “Partnering with a Purpose: Psychologists as Advocates in Organizations,” Cohen, Lee, & McIlwraith (2012) “The Psychology of Advocacy and the Advocacy of Psychology,” Heinowitz, et al. (2012) “Identifying Perceived Personal Barriers to Public Policy Advocacy within Psychology,” Lewis, Ratts, Paladino, & Toporek (2011) “Social Justice Counseling and Advocacy: Developing New Leadership Roles and Competencies,” and Fox (2008) “Advocacy: The Key to the Survival and Growth of Professional Psychology” articles.For this discussion, you will compare the various professional activities common to clinical and counseling psychologists and assume the role of an advocate for a client in one of the case studies from Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology (Gorenstein & Comer, 2015). Select a case study that has not been covered in this course or in the PSY645 course, and identify systemic barriers, sociopolitical factors, and multicultural issues impacting the client at the micro, meso, exo, and/or macro levels. Develop an action plan that outlines how you might advocate for the client at each appropriate level of the ecological model. Identify two potential partnerships that you would establish in order to support your client and those like him or her outside of the therapeutic environment.