Personal Interview Paper

Personal Interview of Cassandra Garcia
Carolyn Brown
BSHS/355
04/ 06/ 2015
Dr. Karen Miner

Personal Interview of Cassandra Garcia

Mrs. Cassandra Garcia is a Licensed Professional Mental Health Therapist for Cobb & Douglas Counties Mental Health Department, located at 1650 County Services Parkway, Marietta, GA 30060. Although, Mrs. Garcia has been a Licensed Professional Mental Health Therapist for a little more than a year, she has worked for the Department of Mental Health as a Counselor since 2009.
I. What populations of clients do you specialize in working within the mental health area?
I specialize in working with individuals that have been diagnosis with varies types of mental disorders such as: paranoid schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder. Some of my clients are functioning on higher levels, and do not need as much supervision as those who are operating on lower functioning levels.
II. What does a typical day of work look like for you? My day usually starts out very busy, I will see a minimum of three to five clients within a day. Sometimes, the appointments I have with clients are follow-up doctor appointments, to assure that they do not miss their medical appointments. The client may have personal business to attend to like locating resources to pay their bills (lights, gas, or rent), they may need to apply for other resources like food stamps, etc. For those clients that are in need of closer supervision, I will take them to their appointments. In addition, I am part of a team of three Psychiatrists, a nurse, and two intake counselors who screen each client before they are accepted into the mental health program. The staff Psychiatrist will make a determination if the client will benefit from the services that a Mental Health Therapist (Case Manager) can provide to them.

III. What motivated you to become involved in Human Services? It has always come natural for me to step in to help others to do those things that seemed hard for them to do. Where they could not see their way out of a difficult situation, I would find the answer. I always had a list of resources and places to go to for help. I had no problem asking the hard questions, and digging a little deeper to find the solution to the problem. I am a natural problem solver, with a heart for people that cannot help themselves. As a young woman I worked with children with special needs, helping to educate the parents who do not know their rights as parents of a child with special needs. I have worked with the elderly in adult daycare centers, playing games like “BINGO”, singing and dancing. I have always had a heart for people, to encourage them to be the best that they can be.
IV. What are some of the obstacles and controversial issues that you face on your job?
Some of the greatest challenges that I face in this job is making everything work together. I have learned that it is not just what I can do to help my client, sometimes I have to wait on others to do their part and that is not always easy to do. There is a lot of red tape that you have to go through in order to help others. There have been times that I have filed all the necessary paper work to place someone in a secure and safe environment to live in, and later find out that they were denied by the other agency. There are many times that we are given information that we can sign a client up for job training services, or job placement and the client is never enrolled for the services. Not only is the client left disappointed, I am also disappointed as their Case Manager, because my goal is to see the client grow and to become more independent.
V. What do I like and dislike about the role of Cassandra Garcia as a Mental Health Therapist?
When interviewing Mrs. Garcia she expressed the sometimes very long hours that she spends away from her husband and children. Sometimes, she feels that they do not receive the love and attention that they are entitled to. I personally would find this to be something that would be also very hard for me. After you have spent most of your waking hours helping to put back the broking pieces of someone else’s life, and when you return home you don’t have anything left to give to your own family should not be. I do understand that this is a job of self-sacrifices, not only for yourself, but those that you love as well will have to sacrifice.
However, by the same token—what I like most about her job is how she fights for those who are unable to fight for themselves, the underdog if you will. I know that we as human service providers will not be able to fix everything in the clients’ life, but that is not what we are supposed to do anyway. We are there to redirect the client, to help them to get back on track and to set some realistic goals for their lives. This will enable them to work out their own personal issues and problems, so they can become more self-sufficient, and independent.