TOTAL:
33
Identifying information
APPENDIX C FINAL EXAMINATION CASE PRESENTATION
Client: Sylvie (Caucasian American) Age 30: Gender: Female Employment: Unemployed
Education: Junior College Associates Degree Marital Status: Separated from spouse-Kevin Children:
Casey Age 15 (Pete {African American} is dad) John Age 10 (Pete is dad)
Sid Age 5 (Teddy {African}is dad)
Agency Type: Outpatient Counseling Services Presenting Problem:
Sylvie reported that she was experiencing symptoms of depression (ongoing for about a year), including some suicidal ideation (ongoing for about a week). Other depressive symptoms included feelings of sadness, helplessness, and guilt; crying spells, fatigue; loss of interest in daily activities; sleep problems (insomnia); and appetite problems and weight loss (dropped from a size 8 to a size 4 since November). Sylvie reported that she had no current suicidal thought or intent.
34
Background Information:
Sylvie stated that she had been separated from her husband, Kevin, since November. She said he is a “good man” but she “wants out” of the two year marriage. Last week she quit her job, due to her stress level, and since then has been unemployed. She is living in an apartment with her 15 year old daughter; her husband stated that he will pay this month’s rent only. Sylvie has not seen her two sons for the past several weeks at the insistence of her ex-husbands. She tearfully stated that “without my children I’m nothing—I don’t want to live”.
Sylvie reported that she is facing embezzlement charges from a former employer. This situation began in July, and trial is pending in May. Sylvie denied that she embezzled any money from her employer. She quotes her lawyer as saying, “we have a good case.” Sylvie related that her main social support these days is from her 15 year old daughter, Casey and her friend, Jeremy. Sylvie stated that “Casey loves me and stands by me and is upset and crying now too.”
Jeremy is a “good friend”, “we’ve recently gotten closer although we’ve been friends for a while.”
Sylvie additionally related that about one year ago she found a lump in her breast. Diagnostic tests were inconclusive about whether it was benign or malignant and this situation is being followed by her physicians. One month after finding the lump in her breast, Sylvie was diagnosed with and had surgery for an ectopic pregnancy. Additionally, last month Sylvie was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst. Sylvie stated that this is the first time she has sought mental health services. She denied problems with alcohol or drug use or abuse.
35
HISTORY:
Childhood. Sylvie reported that she grew up in an alcoholic home. Her father drank daily and Sylvie related observing regular verbal fights between her parents. She denied physical abuse during childhood but identifies verbal abuse. Her parents are divorced, and her father continues to drink. Her mother remarried 5 years ago.
When she was approximately 12, Sylvie was raped by an uncle. Several years ago this uncle returned to town and moved in with her grandmother. Sylvie related fearing for her own and her daughter’s safety. She does not visit her grandmother’s home anymore.
Marriage and Children. Sylvie became pregnant with Casey at age 17; she was not married and lived with her parents. Three years later (when she was 20) she married, Pete, Casey’s father. John was born several years later. She divorced Pete before John was born when she found Pete “in bed with another woman”.
At age 22, she married Teddy. They remained married for approximately 6-7 years. Their son, Sid, was born when she was 24. She stated that Teddy was verbally and physically abusive to Casey and John. She also stated that Teddy verbally and physically abused her. Sylvie stated that she divorced Teddy because of his treatment of her two oldest children. After the divorce, she and Teddy shared custody of Sid, who lives with Teddy.
Employment and Education. Sylvie graduated from high school and junior college. She has worked a variety of jobs, including housekeeping, retail sales, office work, and secretarial work. Her longest job was a 5 year stint as a legal secretary. She has lived and worked in various towns in the south.
36
Legal Problems. Sylvie described a “problem of writing bad checks”. She related that she was arrested several times for this activity, which was an ongoing problem for a number of years. She stated that she dealt with this problem by not having a checking account “for years”, until this past year. Sylvie reported that she did not embezzle any money and that the charges were linked to her male employer’s wife’s jealousy of her. She denied any romantic or sexual relationship with her employer. Trial is set for May.
Initial Goals for Therapy. Sylvie related that her goals in seeking help were to (1)
H O M E W O R K ?’s
- Use the Description Assessment & Contract (DAC) assessment outline to generate an assessment of Sylvie.
Note: Use Figure 9-5, page 243 as your guideline
- Complete an eco-map depicting Sylvie’s current situation. (5 points)
- Complete a genogram depicting Sylvie’s familial history. (5 points)
- Identify and discuss the information that you would need to complete a multi-dimensional assessment of Sylvie. What information is missing from the case description? (10 points)
Note: Use pages 242 thru 248 as the primary basis for your responses
- Briefly discuss what you see as the client’s 3 most pressing problems. Provide justification for the 3 problems you selected. Identify which of the identified problem (s) you would address first & provide justification for your answer. (20 points)
- Based on your preliminary assessment (Questions 1-3) and problem typology (Question 5), select 2 problems and construct a task centered intervention plan for Sylvie using the 5 column format (Problems; Goals & Objectives; Client’s Tasks, Worker’s Roles & Tasks). Be as detailed as possible. (15 points)
Note: See page 325.
- Based on your task centered intervention plan, complete a contract for your work with Sylvie using the Sample Form for Client-Social Worker Contract distributed in class. (5 points)
NOTE: Follow the guidelines on pages 359 and 360 to develop your contract
- Discuss how you would monitor client progress toward realizing the objectives and overall goals. How will you determine the effectiveness of your intervention with Sylvie? (5 points)
NOTE: To be discussed in class on 11/16/20 – See Chapter 12, beginning on page 342
- How would you assess Sylvie’s readiness for termination? (5 points)