Hypothesis And Analysis: A Case Study Prior To Sue's Treatment Plan Creation

Hypothesis and Analysis There are a few driving hypotheses to examine prior to Sue’s treatment plan creation. It is clear that Sue feel like she has lost her sense of safety and trust. This is demonstrated by her need to stay at home, the fact that she stopped driving her car, and her loss of interest in her school work including social life. It is possible that Sue’s demand that Roberta stay with her during her session is because Roberta represents safety, comfort, and trust to her. The client states feeling stressed. Part of the stress is coming from her father and mothers expectations for their daughter to be successful at school. It appears that this pressure was also felt during Sue’s high school years. She indicates that during these years she did not eat much. Even the school counsellor suggested that she has an eating disorder and should see her doctor. It is evident that Sue has poor coping strategies for her stress, and
her eating disorder is her only control for her chaotic world of stress.
It is also possible that the other driver in the accident also caused her stress by yelling at her and blaming her for the accident. She may be carrying the guilt relating to the accident. It is apparent that Sue shows some signs of post traumatic stress such as withdrawal, crying in the evenings for no clear reason, sleep problems, no interest in previously enjoyed activities, lack of trust, difficulty concentrating, isolation and possible premature maturity from her parents (Andrade, 2016). Post traumatic stress (PTS) is stress that occurs after a traumatic event that can be exacerbated further by other risk factors for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some questions I would ask the client about are what are her family’s reactions to stress? Is it similar to hers? These questions would
inform me about her cultural patterns for handling stress. Other question that I would ask her is if her parents know about the car accident? Does she feel comfortable informing her parents about the car accident, so she can get their support in this process? These answers for this question can aid my understanding of her familial support. If her parents are unaware of the accident, they will not know that she needs support. Another curiosity that I might discuss is if she had a similar PTS experience when she was younger? I would want to rule out her implicit memory triggers. As well, I would ask her if she talked to her doctor about strategies for coping with stress. If not, then talk about how she solved this problem in the past. These questions would give me her sense of history of handling stress and some successful strategies she uses. Through these questions I can obtain the client’s cultural context in relation to her trauma and stress, which is useful information to consider for the treatment plan.