| Course | MSW 545 Social Work Practice - Intervention |
|---|---|
| Week | 2 |
| Paper type | Treatment option comparison |
| Length | About 570 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Social Work (MSW) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MSW 545 Week 2
Treatment Option Comparison for V.'s Depression: Behavioral Activation and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy at Equal Depth, the Same Questions Asked of Both, the Deciding Factor Named and the Runner-Up Filed
Student Name
Chamberlain University
MSW 545: Social Work Practice - Intervention
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Treatment Option Comparison for V.'s Depression: Behavioral Activation and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy at Equal Depth, the Same Questions Asked of Both, the Deciding Factor Named and the Runner-Up Filed
The Questions
For each option: What does it target? What does it ask of V. each week? What does it need from the agency? What evidence supports it? What would rule it out?
Behavioral Activation
Target: withdrawal and avoidance that keep depression going; it schedules activities linked to the person's values and tracks mood alongside them. Asks of V.: an activity log, two to four planned activities a week, 12 to 16 sessions. Needs from the agency: a worker trained in the approach; no special materials. Evidence: a meta-analysis of 26 trials found it more effective than control conditions (Ekers et al., 2014); in a randomized trial with adults with major depression, it was comparable to medication among more severely depressed patients (Dimidjian et al., 2006). Rule-outs: none identified for V.
What it looks like for V.: the first weeks would track mornings and the walk to the bus, then add one valued activity a week, such as the library with the child or a call to a friend. Progress is measured by what V. did and how V. rated mood afterward.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Target: patterns of negative thinking as well as behavior; teaches identifying and testing thoughts. Asks of V.: thought records, homework most days, 12 to 20 sessions. Needs from the agency: a trained clinician; the agency has two. Evidence: well established for depression. In the same trial, cognitive therapy did less well than behavioral activation among the more severely depressed patients (Dimidjian et al., 2006). Rule-outs: none absolute.
What it looks like for V.: the first weeks would ask V. to notice thoughts such as "I'm a bad parent" when mornings go badly, write them down and test them against evidence. For a person with V.'s energy, the written work is the hardest part, and V. has already said so.
The Deciding Factor
V.'s exhaustion. V. said, "I can't do homework. I can barely do mornings." Behavioral activation asks for small actions; cognitive therapy asks for written work on thoughts most days. Given V.'s current energy and a PHQ-9 of 14, the lighter weekly load of behavioral activation is more likely to be completed.
A Contraindication Would Beat This
If V. had active thoughts of self-harm, or if V.'s depression worsened sharply, a referral for psychiatric evaluation would come before either.
The Runner-Up, Filed
Cognitive behavioral therapy is filed in the plan as the next option if behavioral activation does not lower V.'s PHQ-9 by at least five points by session 10. V. agreed to this order.
What V. Said
"Doing something sounds better than talking about my thoughts right now."
I recorded the sentence because it is V.'s reason, and the plan should be able to point to it if V. later asks why we chose this route. V. also asked whether thoughts would come up anyway. I said they would, and we would talk about them when they did, without making them homework.
References
Dimidjian, S., Hollon, S. D., Dobson, K. S., Schmaling, K. B., Kohlenberg, R. J., Addis, M. E., Gallop, R., McGlinchey, J. B., Markley, D. K., Gollan, J. K., Atkins, D. C., Dunner, D. L., & Jacobson, N. S. (2006). Randomized trial of behavioral activation, cognitive therapy, and antidepressant medication in the acute treatment of adults with major depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(4), 658-670. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.74.4.658
Ekers, D., Webster, L., Van Straten, A., Cuijpers, P., Richards, D., & Gilbody, S. (2014). Behavioural activation for depression; an update of meta-analysis of effectiveness and sub group analysis. PLOS ONE, 9(6), Article e100100. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100100
Reading the MSW 545 Week 2 instructions
The comparison weighs two credible treatment options for one client and asks the same questions of each. Set the questions first: what the option targets, what it asks of the client each week, what it needs from the agency, what evidence supports it and what would rule it out. Answer them at equal length for both options. Describe how each would look in this client's actual week. Then name one deciding factor drawn from the client, rather than weighing everything equally. Say what would override the choice, such as a safety concern. File the losing option in the plan with a condition for returning to it. Both options should be ones your agency could deliver.
Inside the MSW 545 Week 2 example
The questions open the paper. Behavioral activation targets withdrawal and avoidance, asks for an activity log and a few planned activities a week over 12 to 16 sessions, needs a trained worker and rests on Ekers et al. (2014) and Dimidjian et al. (2006). Cognitive behavioral therapy targets thoughts and behavior, asks for thought records most days and has two trained clinicians at the agency. A section shows each option in V.'s week. V.'s statement that homework is impossible decides it. Thoughts of self-harm would override both. Cognitive therapy is filed as the next option if the PHQ-9 has not dropped five points by session 10, and V.'s words close the paper.
MSW 545 Week 2 rubric: what full points look like
Grading turns on whether both options received a fair hearing on the same terms. A paper that describes the chosen option in detail and the other in a sentence loses the most. Credit goes to questions set in advance, equal depth, evidence for each and a deciding factor drawn from the client rather than the worker's preference. A contraindication that would override the choice shows clinical judgment. Filing the runner-up with a measurable condition for switching earns marks. Research should be described accurately, including findings that favor the option not chosen. Citations follow APA style, and the client's own view should appear somewhere in the decision. Describing each option inside the client's actual week, rather than in general terms, separates a strong comparison from a summary of two chapters.
Common MSW 545 Week 2 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Comparisons most often go wrong when the writer has already chosen and the other option is set up to fail. Another common gap is a deciding factor that comes from the agency's convenience rather than the client. Some papers cite research for one option only. Others never say what would change the decision, so the plan has no exit. If your agency offers only one approach, compare it with a referral option and say what the referral would cost the client. A comparison that ends with the runner-up filed, a test date set and the client's words quoted shows a decision that can be revisited. Quote the client's view of the options; it is evidence, and it often decides more than the research does.
Get a MSW-545 Week 2 example written to your instructions
Send the case your classroom supplied together with the rubric and any element list, and a custom MSW-545 Week 2 comparison is written against them and back with you inside 24 to 48 hours, no charge on the first. The block worth studying is the one arguing for the option that loses.
More MSW 545 papers and MSW samples
- MSW 545 Week 1: From a Wish to a Task Post
- MSW 545 Week 3: Client Goal Contract
- MSW 545 Week 4: Task Assignment Write-up
- MSW 545 Week 5: Psychoeducation Handout
- MSW 545 Week 6: Crisis Step-down Plan
- MSW 545 Week 7: Service Linkage Plan
- MSW 545 Week 8: Session Arc Plan
- MSW 546 Week 2: Goal Attainment Scaling
- MSW 544 Week 2: Presenting Problem Summary for V.
- MSW 543 Week 2: First Contact Log
- MSW 542 Week 2: Child Alone Value Conflict
MSW 545 Week 2 questions, answered
How many options should the comparison hold?
Two is the usual ask and three stays manageable. Past that the blocks thin out and the question set stops being answerable in the same terms for every candidate. Where a classroom wants a wider scan, the workable shape is a short paragraph cutting the field down to two, then full matched treatment for the pair that survived it.
Does the evidence have to be about this exact population?
As close as the literature allows, and where it is not close the document says so. A response supported in adults and applied here to an adolescent is defensible if the gap is named and the adaptation follows from it. What loses marks is evidence quoted at the level of the approach in general while the case sits untouched beside it.
What if the agency could only ever deliver one of them?
Say that, and say it inside the fit section rather than as an aside at the end. Availability is a real feature of this person's situation, so an option ruled out because nobody in the building is trained in it has lost for a legitimate reason. A comparison pretending both were on offer is arguing about a choice nobody had.
Where can I find a free MSW 545 Week 2 sample paper?
Scroll down for the full MSW 545 Week 2 comparison: behavioral activation against cognitive behavioral therapy for V., graded on the same five questions.
What decided the choice in the MSW 545 Week 2 sample?
V.'s exhaustion and statement that written homework was impossible, which favored behavioral activation's lighter weekly load over thought records most days.