ABSTRACT
Many clients describe stressors and challenges that are not readily incorporated into diagnoses of mental health disorders, such as medical problems, poverty, and racism. The case conceptualization assists the therapist in organizing this information and understanding the way in which these different forces influence the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions that clients describe as well as the way in which these reactions exacerbate clients' mental health, medical, and environmental problems. The most common cognitive behavioral approach to case conceptualization used by cognitive behavioral therapists is the framework proposed by Dr. Judith S. Beck, daughter of Aaron T. Beck, in her book entitled Cognitive Therapy: Basics and Beyond, subsequently revised in 2011. The eminent psychologist Jacqueline Persons developed a case formulation approach to the delivery of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) that became a premier resource in the field when it was first published in 1989 and has continued to exert substantial influence after it was subsequently revised in 2008.
