| Course | PS526 Advanced Addictions Counseling |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Functional analysis case study |
| Length | About 1,140 words, 7 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | MS in Psychology |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PS526 Unit 2
Five Links From the Paycheck to Sunday: A PS526 Unit 2 Functional Analysis Case Study for a Motorcycle Mechanic in Residential Treatment
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
PS526: Advanced Addictions Counseling
Unit 2 Functional Analysis Case Study
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The client, his family, the treatment center and every detail of the case are composite and illustrative; the sources cited are real.
Identifying Information and History
Curtis is 38, divorced, with a 12-year-old daughter who lives with her mother in Rapid City and visits every other weekend. He has worked at the same motorcycle repair shop near Sturgis for eleven years and is known as the best mechanic in the valley for older Harleys. He began drinking at 15, drank heavily on weekends through his twenties and, after his divorce six years ago, began drinking every Friday from payday through Sunday night. He rarely drinks Monday through Thursday, which he offers as proof that he is "not an alcoholic." In August he was arrested for his second DUI after rear-ending a car at a stop sign on a Saturday afternoon, with his daughter's car seat empty in the back. The judge gave him a choice between jail time and residential treatment.
Diagnosis
Held against the manual's eleven-item list for problem drinking, Curtis's weekends tick several boxes (American Psychiatric Association, 2022). He drinks far more than he intends, planning "a couple" and finishing a pint and a twelve-pack. He has tried twice to keep Fridays dry and failed. Saturdays are lost to drinking and Sundays to recovery. He has missed two of his daughter's visits because he was hungover and his ex-wife now refuses to let him drive her. He has driven drunk repeatedly. He needs far more alcohol than he did in his twenties to feel the same effect. That is six criteria: larger amounts, failed efforts to cut down, time spent, role failure, hazardous use and tolerance. His diagnosis is alcohol use disorder, severe, even though his drinking is limited to weekends.
The Functional Analysis
McHugh et al. (2010) describe functional analysis as the starting point of CBT for substance use: a detailed map of the situations, thoughts, feelings and consequences that surround use, used to choose targets for skill building. We built Curtis's map together over two sessions, using his description of the last three Fridays before his arrest.
The first link is the situation. At 4:30 on Friday, the shop owner hands out paychecks. The shop is loud with talk about weekend rides, and two coworkers always head to a bar on Main Street.
The second link is the thought. Curtis says to himself, "I earned it. I've been under bikes all week." He also thinks of Friday night alone in his trailer, since his daughter visits only on alternate weekends.
The third link is the feeling: a mix of tiredness, restlessness and something he finally named as loneliness.
The fourth link is the behavior. He cashes his check at the gas station on the highway, which sells liquor, picks up a pint of whiskey he tells himself is for later and has half of it gone before he reaches the trailer.
The fifth link is the consequence. In the short term, he feels relaxed and the loneliness lifts. In the long term, he loses Saturday, misses visits, spends a third of his pay and, in August, nearly injured a family at a stop sign.
The chain begins with a paycheck and a gas station, but the link that makes it hold is the empty trailer on the weekends his daughter is not there.
Choosing Targets
CBT for substance use combines several elements: functional analysis, coping skills training, strategies for managing craving, problem solving and planning for high-risk situations (McHugh et al., 2010). Curtis's map suggests three targets, in order.
The first is the situation: where he cashes his check. Changing to direct deposit at his credit union in Spearfish removes the gas station from the route home. It costs nothing and requires no willpower on Friday afternoon.
The second is the thought, "I earned it." In cognitive restructuring sessions, Curtis will practice examining that thought and building an alternative he believes, such as, "I earned a good Saturday, and I lose it when I drink Friday." He suggested the second half himself.
The third is the feeling: Friday loneliness on non-visit weekends. This is the hardest target and the most important. Curtis and I listed what he used to do on Friday evenings before the divorce: working on his own bike, calling his brother in Belle Fourche and going to the Friday fish fry at the VFW with friends who did not drink much. We will schedule one of those for every non-visit Friday for his first two months home.
Coping Skills and Craving
Curtis will also learn skills for craving, which he describes as a pull in his chest at 4:30 on Friday. In sessions we will practice urge surfing, watching the Friday pull swell, crest and fade like a wave he does not have to follow, and delaying for twenty minutes while doing something with his hands. He will rehearse refusing the coworkers' invitation to the bar, which he expects to face on his first Friday back.
Planning for High-Risk Situations
The highest-risk times are his first Friday back at work, the first non-visit weekend and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August, when the town fills with drinking crowds and the shop works long hours. For each, we will write a specific plan, including who he will be with, what he will do and whom he will call.
Why CBT
Magill and Ray (2009) found that CBT produced a small but consistent effect across 53 trials of adults with alcohol and drug use disorders. The effect is modest, but CBT's focus on skills Curtis can use after he leaves residential care fits his situation: he will return to the same shop, the same paycheck and the same trailer. Treatment has to prepare him for those, not only remove him from them.
Measurable Goals
Before discharge, Curtis will set up direct deposit, write a plan for his first two Fridays home and complete four cognitive restructuring sessions. In his first eight weeks home, he will have no drinking days, confirmed by breath tests at his outpatient program, and he will attend every scheduled visit with his daughter sober.
Conclusion
Curtis's weekend drinking meets six criteria for a severe alcohol use disorder. A functional analysis showed a five-link chain from paycheck to Sunday, held together by loneliness on the weekends his daughter is away. CBT, supported modestly but consistently by Magill and Ray's meta-analysis and structured by the core elements McHugh and colleagues describe, gives Curtis targets for each link, starting with the one he can change before he leaves treatment.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787
Magill, M., & Ray, L. A. (2009). Cognitive-behavioral treatment with adult alcohol and illicit drug users: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 70(4), 516-527. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2009.70.516
McHugh, R. K., Hearon, B. A., & Otto, M. W. (2010). Cognitive behavioral therapy for substance use disorders. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 33(3), 511-525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psc.2010.04.012
The Purdue Global PS526 Unit 2 instructions
For the Unit 2 case study, use functional analysis to plan cognitive behavioral treatment for one client. Open with who the client is and how the drinking or use developed, in enough depth to back a diagnosis, and apply DSM-5-TR criteria with evidence. Build a functional analysis with the client, describing the situation, thoughts, feelings, behavior and short- and long-term consequences of typical use, and identify the link that holds the chain together. Explain the core elements of CBT for substance use from a review and use them to choose and order treatment targets. Add coping skills for craving and plans for the client's highest-risk situations. Support CBT with outcome research, set measurable goals and conclude with what the client can change first.
How the PS 526 Unit 2 example is put together
The case study opens with Curtis's work, divorce, daughter and the August crash with her empty car seat in back. A diagnosis section counts six criteria and explains why weekend-only drinking is still severe. The functional analysis is built in five labeled links from three recent Fridays, under a highlighted line naming loneliness as the link that holds. A section on choosing targets orders direct deposit, cognitive restructuring and Friday plans for non-visit weekends. Sections on urge surfing, refusal practice and plans for the first Friday back, the first non-visit weekend and the Sturgis rally follow, then the evidence from Magill and Ray, dated goals and a conclusion.
Where the points sit in the PS526 Unit 2 rubric
The rubric gives the most weight to the functional analysis: each link should be concrete and drawn from the client's own account, and the paper should identify which link keeps the chain going. Each counted criterion needs a fact from the client's history, and the severity has to match the count. Treatment targets should follow from the analysis, in a justified order, and match recognized core elements of CBT. Coping skills and plans for named high-risk situations show preparation for life after treatment. Outcome research should be summarized accurately, with effect sizes stated honestly. Measurable goals tied to the targets, correct APA citations and composite client details round out the case.
PS526 Unit 2 help: mistakes that cost points
The most common Unit 2 weakness is a functional analysis written as a general list of triggers rather than a sequence from one client's real weekends. Another is choosing targets by habit, such as starting with cognitive restructuring, when the analysis points to an easier environmental change first. Students sometimes miss the feeling behind the chain, which is often the most important link. Diagnoses based on weekend-only drinking are sometimes downgraded without counting criteria. Before submitting, check that each link is dated or tied to a specific event, that you name the link that holds the chain, that your first target needs little willpower and that each high-risk situation has its own plan.
Get a PS526 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Share the case and the instructions with the rubric. A custom case study maps one client's use with functional analysis and plans CBT. The first is free, delivered within 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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PS526 Unit 2 questions, answered
What is a functional analysis?
A map of the triggers, thoughts, feelings, behavior and consequences surrounding substance use.
Why start CBT with a functional analysis?
It shows which links in the chain to target first and which coping skills the client lacks.
What are the core elements of CBT for addiction?
Functional analysis, coping skills training, managing craving, problem solving and planning for high-risk situations.
Where can I find a free PS526 Unit 2 sample paper?
The PS526 Unit 2 functional analysis case study of a mechanic's weekend drinking is printed above in full.
Which link holds the chain together in the PS526 Unit 2 sample?
Loneliness in an empty trailer on the weekends his daughter does not visit.