Case Summary and Presenting Problems
Client History
Mrs. Jenifer Peterson is a 47-years old woman whose husband encouraged her to seek treatment for her alcohol abuse problem. She is a made-up character. Mrs. Peterson says that she believes that her life did not start on the right path. She says that she was brought up by parents who were not only neglectful and abusive but they also used various illicit drugs, including cocaine. As a result of her parents’ neglectful behavior, Jenifer did not get good education. Also, she was married after her 17th birthday to an abusive partner. She did not have the courage to seek divorce since she was not only a mother of two children but she also did not have a job and a place to live at if she was to leave her husband’s house. Both her parents are always in and out of rehabilitation centers. Her young brother is a lawyer and lives in another state and he rarely keep in touch with her. Mrs. Paterson she says that she consumes six beers each day. However, she does not believe that she has an alcohol abuse problem. She denies ever experiencing any withdrawal symptoms associated with excessive alcohol use if she does not consume beer for a day.
After living an abusive partner for 12 years, she left the marriage. She enrolled in program organized by the local non-governmental organization aimed at helping victims of domestic violence. From the program, she learned how to be a professional chef. Using her newly acquired skills, she got a job as a junior chef in a local hotel a job she has had kept for 10 years. It is while working at the hotel that she met her current husband, a fellow divorcee.
Working with Mrs. Paterson seems to be quite interesting. Firstly, her problem seems to date back many years ago. At the same time, Mrs. Paterson seems to be suffering from a severe alcoholic problem. However, it is interesting to see a person with a serious problem but who is able to keep the same job for years. Also, it is not clear what is the magic bullet is in Mrs. Paterson’s case. For instance, it is not clear why a woman who has a stable work and relationship can become an alcoholic in her late 40s.
The client’s excessive alcohol use is having negative implications on her marriage and family in general. For example, her husband has stated that he may file for divorce if she does not get sober very soon or at least start the journey towards recovery. Jenifer considers family to be the most important thing in her life. However, her drinking is negatively affecting her romantic relationship but is also weakening the bond she once shared with her children. She considers her husband and children as her pillars and she does not know what she would do if they were to cut ties with her. This makes her more responsive towards the idea of going for therapy.
The client is in denial about his problem. She may think that her family is ganging up against her. Also, she thinks that that her traumatic past may justify her use of alcohol. As such, the counselor can build rapport with Mrs. Paterson by making her understand that she is on her side. Also, the counselor should confirm that she understands that Mrs. Paterson has had a difficult past. At the same time, the therapist should be empathetic with client. For example, the professor can say that it must be painful to be a victim of domestic violence and child abuse. Also, the counselor can inform the client that she is very proud of her for getting out of her abusive relationship and changing the direction of her life by successfully completing the cooking lessons. The professional may also praise Mrs. Paterson for managing to keep her job for years despite what she has been going through with her alcohol use. However, the therapist should avoid being sympathetic with the client since doing so pay prevents the former from taking responsibility for her action and appreciating that she needs help.
Presenting Problems
Mrs. Jennifer is seeking counseling since her husband and children thinks that she needs help with her alcohol-drinking behavior. However, she thinks that her entire faming is ganging up against her. For her, she only takes a moderate amount of alcohol. Besides, she claims that she only drinks when she is stressed or when in company of her girlfriends. When she was younger, Jenifer tried other drugs such as cocaine and cannabis but she did not like any of these. Although she has been in events where these drugs are consumed, she has never developed the urge to use them. Her drug of choice is alcohol.
Relationships
The client says that her drinking has been affecting her relationship with her children. Mrs. Peterson narrates about how she got drank in her daughter’s wedding and ended up ruining the entire event. Unfortunately, she claims that she does not remember about the incident. She had to be shown the wedding video in order to remember what had happened on the eventful day. As a result of her action, Mrs. Peterson’s relationship with her daughter was dented. Her daughter told her that her mother-in-law is now mistrustful of her because of her mother’s action at the wedding ceremony. The mother-in-law thinks that her daughter-in-law is likely to be a negative influence to her son considering that she was raised by a person who is unable to control her drinking. Jenifer blames herself for what her daughter is going through in her marriage.
Mrs. Paterson admits that she enjoys visiting new places. For example, she belongs to a group of girls who enjoys visiting new areas. For example, the group is about to several states in the country. Also, the team has been in Mexico and is seeking to visit more countries in the coming years. Whenever they visit a new place, they like to get emerged in its way of life by visiting local pubs and restaurants. Also, Mrs. Peterson’s team likes visiting wine-making towns. Nepal is their favorite place and they have visited the area three times and they like taking part in wine tasting and related activity.
Personal Functioning
Mrs. Peterson says that she was once involved in a road accident since she was driving while drunk. On the event day, she was coming from a local pub where she had partying alone. Earlier in the day, she had fought with her husband after she thought that the latter was cheating on her. This is after a young girl called her husband’s phone and she happened to be the one picked it. After the fight, she went to work as usual. During the day, her husband kept calling her but she ignored all his calls or text. She tried to act normal throughout the day in order to avoid fighting with her colleagues and superiors. She had resolved to go home immediacy after end of the working hours. However, the road she takes on her way home from work happens to have many pubs. She did not know how she ended up entering one of the pubs. She knew that she was not in the best mood for drink so she only took three beers. While driving home, she got distracted by her ringing phone and ended up slowing down her car unconsciously causing a minor accident. The police arrived at the scene and it was determined that she was the one who responsible for causing the accident. She was charged in the court and ordered to go to pay restitution.
Occupation Functioning
One thing that is notable about Mrs. Paterson is that she is hardworking and exceptional chef. Her place of work loves her and has been tolerating her for years. However, she often arrives at work late least once per week. This happens whenever she drinks during weekdays. She admits having a few beers in her car. However, she does not remember ever drinking at work. She says that the first thing that she does most of the days after parking her car in the drive way from work is to drink one beer. She admits suffers from insomnia that makes her to exhibit verbal outburst while at work.