Table of Contents
Introduction
This paper analyzes Ginny’s case presentation and address related questions on the same. In addition, the paper will consider relevant literature review to assess the case of Ginny.
What persons and systems are involved in Ginny’s life? Complete an eco-map.
From the case presentation of Ginny, a lot of people and systems are involved in her life. In the first place, Ginny is married to Alex; a 27-year-old man and they have been married since 2014. On the other hand, Ginny has a 2-month-old son known as Matthew who is undergoing serious challenges in her growth. Besides this people, Ginny has a close relationship had no close relationship with his father and mother had been separated. There is no conduct between Ginny and her mother while her younger sister, Amy ran away from home to a different state where she stays with the younger sister to the father. On the other side, the husband to Alex has an older sister and brother who live in different states and are professionals. Besides people involved in the life of Ginny, she is connected to a local church where she is actively involved and has found a group of women at the church who are supportive in uplifting her faith.
Ecomap is a word that comes from the term ecology that instigates from Greek and is the study the interaction between people and their surrounding environment (Rickert, and Rettig, 2006). Eco-map can be defined as a graphical representation that displays the entire systems at work in the life of an individual. They are used in family and individual counseling across social work as well as in the nursing profession (Rickert, and Rettig, 2006). Usually, eco-maps simplify the Systems Theory in a manner that can be understood by the client and the social worker within sessions. In this case, it is useful to Ginny in understanding her situation (Rickert, and Rettig, 2006). Thus, in the case presentation, the client is Grinny and she is at the center of the circle. Grinny is strongly connected to the husband Alex, the church and the baby Mathew. Other participants have weak connections to the client.
How and in what way are the participants involved?
Participants are involved in case presentation in a number of ways. Ginny has several participants involved and the first to be introduced is Alex, a 27-year-old man and a husband to Ginny. Being the husband to Ginny, Alex has been involved to present the marriage life of Ginny. Alex has been involved to show the manner through which Ginny got married and the children they have as well as the challenges they are facing as a family. Other participants in the case presentation are the parents of Ginny and Alex as well as their siblings. These participants have been used to present the kind earlier life that the client lived, the kind of education and the relationship they have. They are used to bring out the relationship that exists between the current life of the client and her early life. Other participants include the church community where Ginny joined to gain spiritual uplifting. At the church, the pastor and women at the church are involved to show the spiritual perspective of the client. The women present the relationship part of the client.
Another participant that has been involved in the case presentation is Mathew, the child to Ginny and Alex. Mathew has been involved in showing the kind of challenges that Ginny is undergoing in her marriage life. In addition, Mathew was born at eight months gestation and had a low birth weight. Mathew is fussy and screams all the time. This participant has been involved to show the kind of problematic life that Alex and Ginny are facing.
Identify the unmet needs or wants.
Unmet needs or wants may refer to the needs that did succeed to accomplish in life yet (Fisher, and Marsh, 2003). Besides physical needs that an individual requires such as food and sleep, there are psychological needs that one needs to fulfill. In addition, unmet needs or wants may arise from unhealthy addictions. A lot of substance abusers as well as those who are addicted are struggling to fulfill unmet need that they could not solve.
According to the psychology of unmet needs, life experiences that people undergo forms the origin of unmet needs (Fisher, and Marsh, 2003). In relation to Ginny’s case presentation, several unmet needs arise. In the first place, Ginny is very sad and tearful after the death of her baby that occurred in October 2014. The situation made her lack sleep and appetite to eat. The fact that Ginny was a heavy user of drugs during her period of pregnancy, she was responsible for the death of her baby. Due to the unmet needs that Ginny is suffering from, she decided to use drugs in order to shun away from their unmet needs. Most people get into drugs to escape from their problems as well as their unsatisfied needs. The failure of Ginny to get her baby through stillbirth is unmet need. Additionally, the recommendation that was made for her to solve her addiction by seeking a drug treatment program could not satisfied and remains unmet needs since her insurance could not cover the cost an inpatient program.
On the other hand, Ginny’s son Mathew is faced with problematic behaviors. He is very fussy, screams at all times, cannot be consoled and sleeps for short periods. The situation of Mathew has made Alex not to sleep at home with the screaming, which made him move out of his place and spends his time at a house that belongs to a friend. This presents unmet needs, as the condition of Mathew has not been solved including the frustration that he undergoes over the reaction that Ginny took during the first pregnancy. Ginny also has unmet wants of going back to school. She dropped out of high school before completing to move and stay with Alex at his apartment. Despite working at GED, Ginny was forced to stop after Mathew was born. All these situations point out the unmet needs in the life of Ginny.
Besides this, Alex has a high school diploma and he believes that his current job lacks future opportunities for advancement. However, the lack of higher education has prevented him from seeking other opportunities. This poses unmet needs and has made Alex opt for heavy drinking as well as use of drugs on accessional basis.
From the assessment, it is evident that the case presentation has many unmet needs across the ecomap that resulted to participants facing problematic behaviors.
What developmental stage or life transition is relevant to this situation?
The psychodynamic perspective
Between 1950 and 1963, Erik Erikson recommended a theory of psychosocial development known as psychoanalytic that included eight stages between infancy to adulthood (Elder, 1999). Through these stages, an individual undergoes a psychosocial disaster that can result into a positive or negative product for development of behavior.
The concepts proposed by Erikson were influenced in a great way by a theory that was proposed by Freud in 1923 concerning the topography and structure of personality (Elder, 1999). In relation to Erikson’s theory, Ginny and Alex are facing the sixth stage of psychosocial development. Intimacy vs. isolation is the stage that Ginny and Alex are facing and it occurs between the ages of 18 and 40 years, young adulthood (Elder, 1999). At this stage, an individual starts sharing more intimacy between each other. In addition, relationships are observed to move towards commitments with people out of family ties. This is evident with the kind of relationship that Ginny and Alex have been experiencing. After this stage is completed in a successful way, it may lead into a sense of commitment and happiness as well as care and safety. Trying to shun away from a life of intimacy, fearing relationships and commitments may result into isolation, solitude, and dejection. Ginny and Alex are struggling with this developmental stage.
On the other hand, their son Mathew is under a trust vs. mistrust stage of development for children below three years (Elder, 1999). In this stage, the child is not aware concerning the world that he or she is living. In order to solve such feelings, the child depends on the parents for care and stability. Mathew is facing challenges but the father, Alex is avoiding him claiming that he is affecting with his rest. The accomplishment of this stage will result into a child developing a virtue of hope.
Thus the client in the case presentation is undergoing an intimacy vs. isolation stage of development since she is facing challenges with the husband including other issues in her social life.
Identify the problematic behaviors present in this scenario. What meaning do the clients ascribe to the variously identified problems?
Problematic behaviors can be defined as those problems, which are typically not accepted (Courtney, Gamboz, and Johnson, 2008). Usually, all people may at times have disruptive behaviors; however, individuals with problematic behaviors always have a consistent pattern. The severity of problematic behaviors normally varies since they may happen in both adults and children (Courtney, Gamboz, and Johnson, 2008). It is recommended that such individuals seek for medical attention to solve the issue. Problem behavior has various causes that may include struggle with poverty, conflict in the family or death among other reasons.
In the case presentation, there are a number of problematic behaviors present. In the first place, Ginny is reported to be a heavy drug user, which caused the death of her child. In addition, Ginny has been using drugs when she made a call after her birth. This shows that Ginny is a substance abuser thus a problematic behavior in her life. Besides Ginny, Alex the husband has also been reported to hand out with friends and engage into heavy drinking as well as using drugs on an occasional basis. Such behaviors are symptoms towards problematic behaviors. It is also reported that Mathew, Ginny’s son was very fussy, colicky baby, and screamed at all times including poor sleeping patterns. Mathew cannot be consoled
On the other hand, Ginny’s mother is reported be alcoholic and they had initially separated with the father. The mother had refused to receive treatment and was physically abusive to her children. Such behaviors that Ginny’s mother presented show problematic behaviors. Additionally, the father to Alex was also reported to be a smoker and a heavy drinker. The mother was also a smoker and this shows a problematic behavior. Based on the Problem Behavior theory, it is important for Ginny and participants in the case to consider ways of solving the problems that they face.
The above cases show that Ginny’s case was full of problematic behaviors that required attention. These problem behaviors may be ascribed to poverty and the identified unmet needs and wants. The client will also be required to attend to medical programs focused towards assisting the family solve their problem behaviors.
How has the client attempted to cope with her problems, and
In order to cope up with the challenges that Ginny is facing, she began attending a local church recently, which she found that the worship sessions were uplifting. Besides this, Ginny joined a weekly prayer group and the church where she found supportive women to the challenges she was facing. Besides this, the client has approached a counsellor to assist her in try solving her problems.
Initially, the client together with the husband took sessions that I had worked with her for 3 months. This was when she was seeking to relieve herself from the sadness of the death on her baby in October 2014. Ginny had also tried to solve her problems by attempting a drug treatment program, however her insurance cover was not sufficient for her to take an inpatient program.
In order to resolve the problems facing the client, a number of skills are required by the client. In the first place, the client requires gaining good parenting skills. Since parenting begins during pregnancy, the client is required to gain skills to handle pregnancy and wellness information. Besides this, the client is required to prepare for parenthood. The client should also understand how to look for the baby. Having these tips, the client will have good parenting skills to resolve the challenges she is facing during and after pregnancy. The client is also required to gain problem-solving skills. This will require the client to learn steps towards solving problems.
What are the skills and strengths of the client?
The client has a number of skills and strengths presented in the case. In the first place, the client has good communication skills. Being a drop out at high school, Ginny should have gained writing and communication skills. This enables the client communicate her problems out in a logical manner. The client has also good personal skills. She is caring to her child Mathew and to the husband Alex. Besides this, Ginny is optimistic about the future and her studies. She believes that education will offer her a better chance in life. The greatest strength of the client is her need to change and become better. Grinny is dedicated to change her life using the personal skills she has acquired.
What external resources are needed?
Among the external resources required in the case of Ginny will include: Financial resources to facilitate her drug treatment program. This will enable her start the journey towards resolving her problems in life. Other resources that will be required by the client include gathering more skills through education.
Conclusion
This paper has presentment the assessment of Ginny including all people related to her life cycle. From the assessment, it has been evident that the entire case is faced with problematic behaviors, which require to be solved. Besides this, different skills required by Ginny in supporting her challenges have been presented including different theoretical analysis based on the case.
- Courtney, E., Gamboz, J. and Johnson, J. (2008). Problematic eating behaviors in adolescents with low self-esteem and elevated depressive symptoms. Eating Behaviors, 9(4), pp.408-414.
- Elder, M. (1999). Erikson on Erikson: On developmental stages 1977, 16 mm, color, sound, 19 minutes. Price $285. Available from: Parents’ Magazine Films, Inc., Department N-64, 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, New York 10017. Journal of Nurse-Midwifery, 24(4), p.46.
- Fisher, M. and Marsh, P. (2003). Social work research and the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise: An initial overview. Social Work Education, 22(1), pp.71-80.
- Rickert, D. and Rettig, K. (2006). Family Support Ecomaps. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 46(1-2), pp.85-106.