Case Study in Correctional Counseling

Mary appears in your office vibrant and full of energy. She is whirlwind of activity, straightening things in your office and talking at a vigorous and almost annoying pace. But as soon as you ask her to sit with you and focus on the reason she is here to see you, she begins to get irritated. “Look, I have a lot to do today and I really do not have time for this. I know I have to come here, but if I do not get started, then the whole day could be wasted.”

When you ask her about the lethargic state that her boss had said she was in the week before, she tells you, “Well, we all have the dumps from time-to-time.” Then she begins to tell, “But you know, my supervisor really does not know what he is doing. See, if I were boss, I could get that place running perfect in just two days.”

Mary has been convicted and is on probation for check fraud and check forgery. It appears that Mary enjoys going on expensive spending sprees for brief periods of time. This is then followed by a cyclical period where she does not have the energy to even go to work. During these times, Mary will often fail to pay her bills or even deposit her paycheck into her bank account. Thus, Mary has a long list of checks that have been returned for insufficient funds. Further, when she was on one of her spending sprees, she decided to use a few checks that belonged to her friend saying, “Well I am just like, well borrowing the money … I will tell her later.”

As a result of financial difficulties and her prior husband’s out-of-control temper, she divorced him about four years ago. He was into gambling and also drank heavily. He would complain about the lack of money, Mary’s spending habits, and her radical mood swings. When aggravated and/or drunk, he would have screaming fits. Sometimes during the night when he was drunk he would also force Mary into sexual activity, even when she made it clear that she was not interested. Mary, on the other hand, tends to vacillate back and forth between the use of amphetamines and alcohol, often complicating her life and any chance for stability that she might have. Between her husband’s problems and her own personal challenges, it was not surprising that the marriage did not last.

When Mary does have her periods of dark withdrawal, she completely neglects her medication. Further, she tends to neglect her two children, Tina (age 10) and Tony (age 8), letting them take care of themselves. Sometimes, Tina has to take care of mom as well. Both kids prepare themselves for school and walk to school on their own during these times. During these periods, Mary will simply mull over her thoughts and always seem tired and exhausted. She does not sleep well and claims that this impedes her ability to function throughout the day. Regardless, Mary does not exhibit the desire to accomplish her daily-life routines but instead simply allows things to fall apart.

Currently, Mary is upbeat and lively and wants to talk about her new boyfriend. From her prior case notes with other therapists, you can tell that “new boyfriends” tend to have a pattern that coincides with her manic episodes. What is interesting is Mary tends to neglect her children during these times as well while she is focusing on getting things right with her new “beau” or fixing her finances from the prior spending spree. This is of course then followed by self-loathing over neglecting her kids (who are neglected during this period as well) and the fact that her new “beau” has found her to be annoying or “moody,” as many have put it.

Mary hates taking medication and does not really see why she needs to have therapy. All she really needs is for things to calm down and then she can get a grasp on her life. And according to Mary, “Time is running out as we speak, so can I go or what?”

Give me at most 300 word response all together for these questions, easy responses.

• A brief description of the selected case
• A description of the concept of helping clients during the case management process
• The best intervention practices when working with clients and how this can have a positive effect on a client’s behavioral patterns
• The concept of helping and intervention practices that should be used in this case