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Discussion 10 of 14

The identifying details for the client I conducted a biopsychosocial assessment with are as follows. The client’s name is Susan Williams. She is 37 years old, and her sex is female. Susan’s ethnic background is African American. Susan is a divorcee. She was once married but has recently gone separate ways with her husband. She has one daughter from her previous marriage. Susan’s admission date is November 16th, 2021. The number of previous interviews that Susan has gone through is two, which took place at the beginning of the year. Regarding the source of referral, Susan was directed to me by Stella Centre, a private company that provides psychosocial support for victims of trauma through various procedures. The contact person for the agency is Tom Smith, the lead psychologist at Stella Center. The reason for referral is that Tom believes Susan can get more assistance from me than the counselor in charge of Susan’s treatment at Stella Center. The individual was going through a personal issue that was getting in the way of the client’s treatment. According to the NASW Code of Ethics, a patient referral is imperative when the client’s problems are beyond the counselor’s area of expertise or if they are not comfortable assisting a student with a particular issue. Susan’s problem has to do with community violence. She was a victim of a mugging and bulgary a few months ago. She was at a convenience store when armed robbers came and stole. The incident was traumatizing because out of the people that were in the store that day, she is the only one that survived. The store owner and all clients that saw the incident were shot dead by the robbers. She was lucky because she found a spot to hide from the robbers. Some symptoms that Susan has to deal with include feeling disconnected, irritability, shock, fear and anxiety, difficulty sleeping, and mood swings. The symptoms started the week after the incident took place. The weight of the trauma has led Susan to attempt suicide and she has resulted in taking alcohol to cope with the situation. Before the incident, Susan never used to drink alcohol. Susan has tried seeking assistance from Stella Center, who referred her to me. The purpose of carrying out a biopsychosocial assessment is that it helps counselors to better understand their clients’ subjective points.

Discussion 11 of 14

The pain of grief that comes with losing a loved one, whether the death is anticipated or sudden can be disorienting and shocking. Grief is a normal internal feeling associated with a loss, and different people with grief differently. Grief takes place in seven stages. The first stage of grief is shock and denial. After learning about the death of a loved one, a person is likely to get numb with disbelief. To avoid pain, the individual often denies the reality of loss. The shock cushions the person emotionally and prevents them from being overwhelmed by emotions all at once. Shock and denial may last weeks. Pain and guilt are the second stage of grief. After the shock wears off, it gets replaced with feelings of unbelievable pain and it is important for the individual to experience the pain without hiding or escaping from it. Anger and bargaining is the third stage. Frustration leads to anger that makes the individual to lass out blame on another person. Depression, Reflection, and Loneliness is the fourth stage of grief. As other people feel that it is time to continue with life, the individual tends to fall into a long period of reflection (Social Work Tech, 2019). Worth noting, such feelings are normal in grief and they should not allow outsiders to talk them out of it. The fifth stage is the upward turn. In this stage, the individual begins getting used to life without their loved one and at this point, life is more organized and calm. The physical symptoms of depression reduce and the depressions tarts to wear off. The individual at this point, feels strengthened, awakened, and motivated. The sixth stage is reconstruction and working through. In this stage, the individual becomes more functional. The mind starts working again and they feel refreshed, inspired, and determined. Acceptance and hope is the final stage of grief. In this last stage, the individual learns to accept the loss and deal with the reality of the situation. Worth noting, acceptance does not mean instant happiness. At this point, the individual does not want to re-live the pain of their past and they start looking forward and actually planning for their future.

Source

Social Work Tech (2019). Intervention: The Seven Stages of Grief

Discussion 12 of 14

Early development has a significant impact on the development of an adult. Particularly, adverse encounters can cause lifelong problems. For this assignment, I will use Lulu to formulate a developmental history. Lulu has been struggling with anxiety for the past six months. Lulu was born into a loving family to her father and mother. Her mother is a stay-at-home mother, while her father is a pediatrician. Her father is always busy and is mostly traveling for work-related assignments inside and outside the country. Lulu is an only child; she does not have any brothers or sisters. Lulu was born on April 4th, 2000. She is twenty one years old. Worth noting, Lulu has always shared a loving relationship with her parents. She loves them both equally and she is the perfect child. Lulu will do anything to make her parents proud. She has always recorded exemplary grades in her education. However, recently, things have changed. Her parents have been having issues leading to their separation and divorce six months ago. Lulu blames herself for their separation and eventual divorce. She learned that her father was having an extramarital affair which caused the divorce, and somehow she blames herself for her parents’ failed marriage. This has been the reason behind the depression she has been going through. The situation is so dire that it has started affecting her social and academic life. She started getting a GPA of 2 when she is usually a 3.5 student. Additionally, every time her friends invite her out for hiking, or lunch dates, she comes up with excuses not to show up. She has started keeping to herself a lot more of late, and she spends most time locked up in her room. She has never had any significant events in her childhood that can be associated with the trauma. Her parents are decision primary decision-makers in the family. They even tried helping Lulu by enrolling her in a seminar but that did not help her because she refused to attend. As regards the history of psychiatric problems in the family, Lulu’s aunt from her mother’s side is the only one who has had psychiatric issues in the family. She suffers from obsessive-compulsive behavior, a condition she has been managing for the past five years. Without a doubt, family stresses often contribute to psychosocial problems, as evidenced in Lulu’s case. Her parent’s marital issues took a toll on her mental health, driving her into anxiety and depression.

Discussion 13 of 14

In the duration of this course, I have gathered a lot of information that has improved my understanding of social work intervention. To begin with, I have learned that as a counselor or social worker, it is imperative to conduct a psychosocial assessment on clients before anything else as it helps them learn more about them at a more personal level. Such an assessment helps in learning the client’s behavior which helps the counselor figure out the best way to help the client. The assessment helps professionals to relate to the subjective viewpoint of their clients. Additionally, I have also learned that family history and stresses have a lot to do with mental health. History of psychotic problems in the family can trigger future mental issues. As such, social workers must understand the family history of their clients to help them figure out the best way to help them. From the course discussions, I have also learned that people battling psychotic and mental issues display traits such as anxiety, irritability, anger, loss of appetite, and lack of connection with the outside world. Furthermore, as regards dealing with grief, I have learned that getting over the loss of a loved one is never easy. As counselor’s it is our duty to provide the necessary support to clients to ensure they recover. Moreover, I have learned that there is formula for dealing with loss. Different people handle grief differently. We should give grieving individuals the time and space they need to grief and we should not push them into getting back to their normal lives. The only way to overcome the loss of a loved one is to face the grief head-on. As they say, time heals wounds. It does not matter how long it takes for a person to overcome a loss; they should be supported in every way possible until they are ready to get back to their normal life.