Reference no: EM133190717

Vignette for Case Conceptualization

Susan was referred to you by her minister, whom you know fairly well. Susan is 55 years old and was married to George for 32 years. Three weeks ago George took his own life with a drug overdose. To her knowledge, he had never abused drugs in the past. They have two adult, married children who live out of town; a son, 30 years, and a daughter, 28 years old. Each has two children (4 grandchildren). Since George's death, Susan has learned that his business was on the brink of bankruptcy. He had owned an automobile sales agency that always seemed successful. They had belonged to a local country club. Their home is paid for and is not at risk for the business failure, but George had borrowed heavily on his insurance policies and there will be little cash available. Susan has been a stay-at-home mom and housewife during their marriage, which occurred shortly after she graduated from college with a major in English. Although never employed outside the home for a salary after her marriage, Susan has been very active in charity and community work in their city. She had worked briefly as a receptionist and assistant to an editor at a local magazine before her marriage. When she presents for her first session with you, she appears in shock, with swollen, red-rimmed eyes, messy hair, and in a sweat outfit. She begins by telling you that "George handled everything! He did the bills, house repairs, took care of the cars...he was the one that decided who we socialized with! He even helped me choose clothes. I don't know where to go - what to do...". When questioned, she indicated that their children were in shock, too, and she did not want them "involved with all this", that they had young families and were "just starting out" and were not in a position to help her. She said George had appeared "distracted" for the past few months, but he had gone through similar periods in the past and "didn't like to talk about things". She said "The whole thing is like a nightmare! My whole life is wiped out...how could he do this to me?! He wanted me to be a good little housewife - and I was! I depended on him for everything!". During the initial paperwork, she indicated that she had suffered from some anxiety and "minor depression" during her life. Her mother had been hospitalized for several weeks with "time of life" depression after menopause. She also mentioned that George had "strayed a few times" during their marriage and "occasionally drank too much" but they had "worked it through". She and George had been members of the same church throughout their marriage and social friends with the minister. Susan said she had told the minister that God was punishing her for something, "if there even is a God" and he had suggested she come to see the counselor.

Required:

You will need to complete a case conceptualization and treatment plan from a provided crisis or grief case vignette. The case conceptualization and treatment plan must include the major clinical areas (e.g., identifying data, presenting problem, and family history/dynamics, diagnosis, and treatment recommendations.) Additionally, the paper must include a case conceptualization using a grief or crisis theory and one other theory of your choosing. Make sure to include specific interventions chosen for your plan and comprehensive recommendations for the client's overall treatment (e.g., referrals to family doctor, financial planning, psychiatrist, etc.; whatever you believe may be beneficial to the client). There are forms made available under "Content" that you may use to assist in organizing your data, but it is not necessary that you use the forms (DAF [Diagnostic Assessment Form], MSE [Mental Status Exam], Treatment Plans, or you may use forms utilized where you work, if available). The case conceptualization/treatment plan should be 7-8 pages in length following APA formatting.

• You must use the vignette provided by the professor. You may NOT use your own client or make up your own vignette.
• APA format; double-spaced, one-inch margins, #12 font size, Times New Roman font (see under Instructor policies for information on APA); abstract, appropriate citations and references.
• Text length 7-8 pages (excluding title and reference pages)
• Include all major clinical areas (see just above)
• Use one grief or crisis theory, plus one other theory of your choosing to explain your interventions and concepts (the lens through which you see the case)
• You may add details of your own "imagining" to flesh out your client, but do not ignore or change any items in vignette (e.g. you may add weight loss or increase; sleep problems, etc.).