Played Softball and Basketball
Cassie’s house parents requested for Cassie to continue to see and talk with me to discuss her feelings of being worthless, unloved, unwanted, and left out/don’t belong. Cassie comes into my office dressed well but with a “down” sad countenance. She reports that she is feeling a little down today as she failed another math test this week. Her expression appeared to be of frustration as she was tearful when she talked about how dumb she was and will never be able to understand math. Cassie reported that her house parents did not fuss or “put her down” when she informed them of receiving an” F” on her latest test.
Today we worked on identifying and understanding Cassie’s issues and setting goals. Regarding the goals, we discussed and decided on adding an extracurricular activity and learning coping skills and how to regulate emotions. Cassie stated how she recently participated in a church youth group activity day passing out food to the homeless and how she felt helpful to assist others who needed it. I provided Cassie with an activity scale sheet and encouraged her to list some of her interests as well as add, if not listed, so we could identify activities she may like or want to participate in. As Cassie talked about how she used to play softball and basketball before being placed in foster care, her tone was lifted and whole demeanor brightened. I asked Cassie to inquire with the coach or front office at her school information regarding her playing basketball. Cassie is to provide a report of this at our next session.
I asked Cassie to complete a depression inventory. I also asked her to come up with a list of feelings that she has felt over the last week and share with me. I did this to assess how aware Cassie was of her feelings and her ability to express them with others. The activity sheet was to identify the activities she liked and those she may want to participate in. As a result, she brightened up when thinking about how she used to play softball and basketball previous to foster care; but it was hard for her to talk about how unloved, unwanted, and frustrated she felt.
Your critical reflections: did the client’s response produce the therapeutic result that the worker desired? Why or why not. I believe that my responses produced the result of getting Cassie to open up and talk more about her feelings. Through open discussion and talking, we were able to identify her feelings of distrust and why she felt unworthy. She began to work on the regulation of her emotions. We were also able to identify her desire to participate in activities that she like. We were able to formulate a plan of action/goals to meet her needs.
Based on a type of family practice approach used in this course and/or, the client’s personal/family dynamics and current therapeutic issues—are there any significant persons (or family members) in the client’s life that could be included in future sessions that could help support client in reaching their goals? Why or why not. As stated in Skills Paper 1, I believe incorporating Cassie’s parents would be beneficial for her and them. This will allow her to talk with and express how she feels. This could allow her to be open with them and help the parents see how their actions have affected her. I also think that incorporating Cassie’s house parents would be great as it gives insight on both parties as to how each feel.
Relate the above noted therapeutic conversation to a theory that we have covered sometime this semester up until the due date for this particular paper. This portion should be about 1 paragraph long and should state the theory that you have in mind and how this particular conversational exchange bears a resemblance to that theory.
I believe the theory approach used in this session was more psychodynamic psychotherapy as we attempted to get to the bottom of Cassie’s behavior and feelings and their relation to her inner struggles; as she is dealing with many issues (entering foster care, feeling unwanted/unloved by her biological parents, not sure how her house parents feel about her, and simply trying to fit in/put the pieces of her life together). As we continue sessions and she begin to open up, my goal is to reduce her anxiety, fears, and feelings of worthless to improve the outlook she has regarding her life.
