Working With Families: The Case of Carol and Joseph

Working With Families: The Case of Carol and Joseph essay assignment

Carol is a 23-year-old, heterosexual, Caucasian female and the mother of a 1-year-old baby girl. She is currently unemployed, having previously worked for a house cleaning company. The baby is healthy and developmentally on target, and she and the parents appear to be well bonded with one another. Carol lives in a rented house with her husband, Joseph. Joseph is a 27-year-old, heterosexual, Hispanic male. He was recently arrested at their home for a drug deal, which he asserts was a setup. Both parents were charged with child endangerment because weapons were found in the child’s crib and drugs were found in the home. The parents assert that the child never sleeps in the crib but in their bed. As a result of the parents’ arrest, social services was notified, and the child was temporarily placed in a kinship care arrangement with the maternal grandmother, who resides nearby. As a result of Joseph’s arrest, he was fired from the cleaning company where he worked, and the family is now experiencing financial difficulties.

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After initial contact was made with the parents, a number of concerns were noted and the family was recommended for additional case management. Carol’s mother indicated that she had concerns about Carol’s drinking habits and stated that Carol’s father and grandfather were alcoholics. She and the father separated when Carol was a baby, and Carol has had only limited contact with him. There appears to be significant tension between the grandmother and Carol and Joseph. I addressed the alcohol issue with both parents, who denied there was a problem, but shortly after the discussion, Carol was involved in a serious car accident with the baby in the car. She was determined to have been under the influence of alcohol. I advised Carol that she could not have any unsupervised contact with her child until she completed intensive inpatient substance abuse treatment. I made arrangements for her placement, but after a week, she was discharged for noncompliance with the rules. She was then referred to an intensive outpatient program and began therapy there.

Initially her attendance was erratic because she had lost her license as a result of the DUI. Eventually, however, she became engaged in the program and began to address her issues. She acknowledged that she had started using drugs at a very young age but said that she had only begun drinking in the previous year or so. We discussed the genetics of her family, and she said that she realized that she had deteriorated rapidly since beginning to drink and knew that she simply could not drink alcohol.

Joseph’s mother is deceased, and his father travels extensively in his job and is not available as a support. Joseph was very devoted to his mother and was devastated by her premature death. We discussed the strengths that he and Carol demonstrated in staying together and working out their problems. Joseph indicated that as a Hispanic man, family is very important to him and he wants his family to stay together. Although they have been struggling financially, Joseph has obtained stable employment landscaping for a large development and said he plans to take courses at the community college to learn the trade. He stated that he wants to provide a good life for his child. Carol has a lot of unresolved issues to deal with in therapy, not the least of which is the accident that could have killed her child and the legal ramifications that resulted from this incident. Although angry and hostile at the beginning, through the implementation of person-centered therapy, we were able to establish agreed-upon goals that showed respect for the client and encouraged her to find solutions to her problems. Although our relationship was tenuous at times, providing encouragement to her rather than judgment enabled her to forgive herself and take corrective action.

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Working With Families: The Case of Carol and Joseph