Every order is original, expert-done, and screened for AI — full report on request.See how it works

Assignment questions
NursingDiscussion postPsychiatric mental health

Counseling Adolescents With Disruptive Behavior

Four case studies, one choice, and an assessment that is required but not sufficient. What you do with the assessment is what gets graded.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 16, 2026

01

Assess the client, but the assignment is about the approach

The prompt sets up its own difficulty in the first line: adolescents are not children and not yet adults, and treating them as either produces the two failure modes this assignment is watching for. Treat them as children and you talk past them to the parent, lose the alliance and get nothing useful. Treat them as adults and you miss that autonomy is developing rather than established, that the family system is still the main environment, and that behaviour serving a function in that system will not change because a therapist asked. Disruptive behaviour is best read as communication with a function — escape, attention, control, or the assertion of autonomy in a setting where nothing else is available. Naming the function before naming the intervention is what makes an assessment clinically useful rather than descriptive. Say which of the two failure modes you would be most at risk of with this particular client.

Do the assessment properly using the pages you were given, then go past it. Cover presenting behaviour with onset, frequency and setting, since behaviour that occurs only at school points somewhere different from behaviour that occurs everywhere. Screen for what is treatable underneath: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning difficulty, trauma, depression presenting as irritability, substance use. Then choose an approach and defend it. Parent management training and functional family therapy have the strongest evidence for younger adolescents; individual cognitive behavioural work suits older adolescents with the reflective capacity for it; multisystemic therapy fits when school, family and legal systems are all involved. Say which you would use and why the case's features point there. Then name what would make you change course, because a plan with no revision condition is a prediction rather than a plan. Name the person you would need on side for the approach to work at all.

Likely learning objectives

Inferred from the brief — check these against your own rubric.

  • 01
    Position adolescent clients developmentally between child and adult approaches.
  • 02
    Read disruptive behaviour as serving a function.
  • 03
    Screen for treatable conditions underlying behavioural presentation.
  • 04
    Select an evidence-based approach matched to age and system involvement.
Assignment instructionsQuoted verbatim

Read the full question

Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Psychotherapy With Children And Adolescents Counseling Adolescents-Psychotherapy With Children And Adolescents The adolescent population is often referred to as “young adults,” but in some ways, this is a misrepresentation. Adolescents are not children, but they are not yet adults either. This transition from childhood to adulthood often poses many unique challenges to working with adolescent clients, particularly in terms of disruptive behavior. In your role, you must overcome these behaviors to effectively counsel clients. For this Discussion, as you examine the Disruptive Behaviors media in this week’s Learning Resources, consider how you might assess and treat adolescent clients presenting with disruptive behavior. To prepare: · Review this week’s Learning Resources and reflect on the insights they provide. · View the media, Disruptive Behaviors. Select one of the four case studies and assess the client. · For guidance on assessing the client, refer to pages 137-142 of the Wheeler text in this week’s Learning Resources. Note: To complete this Assignment below, you must assess the client, but you are not required to submit a formal Comprehensive Client Assessment. Psychotherapy With Children And Adolescents Assignment Post an explanation of your observations of the client in the case study you selected, including behaviors that align to the criteria in DSM-5. Then, explain therapeutic approaches you might use with this client, including psychotropic medications if appropriate. Finally, explain expected outcomes for the client based on these therapeutic approaches. Support your approach with evidence-based literature. Learning Resources Required Readings Wheeler, K. (Ed.). (2014). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how-to guide for evidence-based practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Chapter 17, “Psychotherapy With Children” (pp. 597–624) American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. Bass, C., van Nevel, J., & Swart, J. (2014). A comparison between dialectical behavior therapy, mode deactivation therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy in the treatment of adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy, 9(2), 4–8. doi:10.1037/h0100991 Koocher, G. P. (2003). Ethical issues in psychotherapy with adolescents. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 59(11), 1247–1256. PMID:14566959 McLeod, B. D., Jensen-Doss, A., Tully, C. B., Southam-Gerow, M. A., Weisz, J. R., & Kendall, P. C. (2016). The role of setting versus treatment type in alliance within youth therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 84(5), 453–464. doi:10.1037/ccp0000081 Zilberstein, K. (2014). The use and limitations of attachment theory in child psychotherapy. Psychotherapy, 51(1), 93–103. doi:10.1037/a0030930 Required Media Laureate Education (Producer). (2013a). Disruptive behaviors – Part 1 [Multimedia file]. Baltimore, MD: Author. Laureate Education (Producer). (2013a). Disruptive behaviors – Part 2 [Multimedia file]. Baltimore, MD: Author. Walker, R. (n.d.). Making child therapy work [Video file]. Mill Valley, CA: Psychotherapy.net.
02

Turn the brief into deliverables

  1. 01
    Identification of the case study selected.
  2. 02
    An assessment following the assigned framework.
  3. 03
    A functional analysis of the behaviour.
  4. 04
    Screening for underlying conditions.
  5. 05
    A chosen therapeutic approach with justification.
  6. 06
    A stated condition for changing course.
03

Case, assessment, then the therapeutic approach you would take

01

The case and the presenting behaviour

Describe the behaviour with onset, frequency and setting.

02

Assessment using the assigned framework

Work through the required assessment elements.

03

What function does the behaviour serve?

Propose the function the behaviour performs in the system.

04

Screening underneath

Consider ADHD, learning difficulty, trauma, mood and substance use.

05

The approach and its evidence

Choose a modality and justify it for this age and system.

06

Engagement and revision

Say how you would build alliance and when you would change plan.

04

Evidence for treating disruptive behaviour in adolescents

Recommended databases

  • PubMed Central
  • National Institute of Mental Health
  • The assigned Wheeler text
  • American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Search sequence

  1. 1.
    Read the assigned assessment pages before watching the media.
  2. 2.
    Search for evidence-based treatments for disruptive behaviour by age band.
  3. 3.
    Look for functional analysis material so the function section is properly grounded.
  4. 4.
    Check the alliance literature for adolescents specifically.
05

Reference shortlist

These are authoritative starting points, not a ready-made bibliography. A qualified reviewer must confirm that each source fits the assignment and supports the claim beside which it is cited.

Nothing here is cleared for citation until you have read it.

  1. 01

    Effectiveness of Structural–Strategic Family Therapy in the Treatment of Adolescents with Mental Health Problems and Their Families

    International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · 2019

    Structural-strategic family therapy evaluated with adolescents and their families.

  2. 02

    Therapist Adherence in Brief Strategic Family Therapy for Adolescent Drug Abusers

    Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · 2011

    Therapist adherence in brief strategic family therapy — what fidelity actually requires.

  3. 03

    HEEADSSS Up: Evaluating the Efficacy of a Blank Proforma in the Use and Documentation of Adolescent Psychosocial Assessment

    Journal of Adolescent Health · 2024

    A structured adolescent psychosocial assessment framework.

  4. 04

    Integrated Primary Care Programs for Early Detection and Management of Child and Adolescent Mental Health

    BMC Primary Care · 2026

    Integrated primary care detection and management of adolescent mental health problems.

  5. 05

    Anxiety Disorders

    National Institute of Mental Health · 2024

    Background for one of the conditions that presents as disruptive behaviour.

06

Review before submission

Common mistakes

  • Describing the behaviour without asking what function it serves.
  • Working with the parent as the client and losing the adolescent's alliance.
  • Choosing an approach with no evidence base for this age group.
  • Assessing without ever committing to a treatment approach.

Submission checklist

  • Have you named the case study you selected?
  • Is a function proposed for the behaviour?
  • Did you screen for treatable underlying conditions?
  • Is your approach justified by features of this case?

Use this guide to plan and review your own work. Follow your institution's rules and read our academic-integrity policy.

Written by

Aaron Bishop

MA, Education

assignment interpretation and research-methods coaching across disciplines

Aaron leads the EssayCrackers editorial desk. He works on how assignment briefs are read — what a rubric is actually asking for, and where students most often answer a different question than the one set.

Reviewed by

Dr. Nathan Cole

PhD, Rhetoric & Composition

Argumentation and thesis development

Nathan teaches first-year composition and directs a university writing center. He reviews EssayCrackers guides for argumentative soundness and citation accuracy.

Want feedback on your plan before you draft?

Get help interpreting the brief, checking your evidence strategy, and strengthening your outline while keeping the work your own.

Get assignment guidance
Start your order