Reference no: EM133404938
Case Study: Sarina
Sarina is a 43-year-old African-American cisgender heterosexual woman who entered counseling at a state-funded mental health clinic to address symptoms of depression and grief connected to the violent death of her teenage son a year prior. She is single and lives with her mother with whom she reports having a close relationship. She works in the service industry and lives in a lower-middle class neighborhood in a town of about 33,000 people. She describes herself as a Christian and attends services intermittently at a local Baptist church. Sarina is currently on an anti-depressant prescribed by a clinic psychiatrist for symptoms of depressed mood, anhedonia, inappropriate guilt, psychomotor retardation, concentration difficulties, and low energy. During the intake session, Sarina presents with mood-congruent depressed affect and psychomotor retardation while describing the circumstances of her son's death. When asked about the most challenging aspect of her current concerns, she says, "I'm afraid I'm going crazy," and shares that she has had several experiences of waking during the night to a feeling of pressure at the foot of her bed. Upon waking, she reports seeing her deceased son sitting on the bed and conversing with him. A mental status exam and additional assessment questions reveal no evidence of psychosis or impairment in reality testing. The client reports you are the first person she has told, fearing others might think she is "crazy" if she shares her experience with them. Once reassured of the lack of evidence to support her fear of psychosis, Sarina becomes more energetic and animated in sharing about her experience. She reports experiencing her son's visits as initially comforting, stating that she feels confirmation that he is at peace, happy, and in a good place. She said she still misses him, but does not feel the same intense sadness and guilt she felt before he visited. However, she says the visits were initially welcome, but now she is wondering how long they will continue and also feeling like she is okay and might not want him to keep visiting her.
1. How is it best to discuss and conceptualize the client from a transpersonal perspective?
2. How is to best describe, from a transpersonal perspective, what a counsellors goals might be for the work with the client?
3. How would the counselor proceed with the client?
4. How would the counselor demonstrate cultural humility and cultural-responsiveness?
5. How would the counselor integrate transpersonal methods and approaches?
6. What are some of the expected impact of these methods and approaches on the client?
7. How would the counselor know if resolution or progress is being made?