A Case Study Of Social Work Intervention For Appearance Anxiety In Female College Students

"Appearance anxiety",as a key concern and hot topic nowadays,is also a problem faced by many college students,which is mainly manifested by individuals who are dissatisfied with their appearance and fall into a state of anxiety as a result.As a negative emotion,anxiety is easily perceived by individuals,which not only affects their psychological condition,but also hinders their daily behavior.Once an individual establishes the biased perception that appearance is a necessary condition for all other events,he or she will be trapped in a prison of thinking and will not be able to extricate himself or herself.However,this problem is not solely determined by the individual,but also by the social culture that contributes to the situation,so appearance anxiety is the result of the combination of individual’s biased perception,social culture and gender roles.Social workers need to provide professional answers on how to help college students eliminate appearance anxiety and ensure their physical and mental health.In this paper,we use cognitive-behavioral therapy as the main intervention method combined with the dominant perspective theory,and apply social work practice skills to intervene with female college students with appearance anxiety problems.Through the cognitive-behavioral therapy intervention,on the one hand,we help individuals correct their deviant cognition and abnormal behavior and build a new cognitive-behavioral system;on the other hand,we guide them to discover positive events in their life history,explore their potential,enhance their self-identity,and develop healthily.The specific process is as follows:firstly,in response to the individual’s anxiety and related behaviors,the individual is guided to recall the relevant events,so as to explore the beginning of the problem and the influencing factors;secondly,the relationship between various factors and the problem is clarified,so as to clarify how the individual’s deviant cognition is generated;afterwards,the individual is guided to find self resources from the perspective of strengths,to enhance the individual’s confidence and sense of efficacy,and to change the perspective of the problem.Finally,the individual is accompanied to learn relevant skills,consolidate the results of the changes,learn to view oneself rationally and from multiple perspectives,establish a new cognitive system,and improve the ability to cope with future risks and challenges.After the above interventions,I found that the individuals’ self-identity was significantly improved,their cognition was significantly changed,their self-esteem was confident and stable,and they changed from a stable low self-esteem state before the intervention to a stable high self-esteem state after the intervention.From the results of the study,the casework guided by cognitive-behavioral theory has certain advantages in intervening with female college students’ appearance anxiety problems.This is mainly reflected in the presence of clear practical guidance and common assessment tools,clear focus,and structured approach.It can be argued that cognitive-behavioral theory has unique value for appearance anxiety among female college students.