Case Study: Effects of Divorce on a Teenager Named Julie
This case study examines the counseling process for "Julie," a 14-year-old high school student affected by her mother's difficult divorce from an occasionally abusive stepfather. The paper covers Julie's presenting issues — declining grades, sleep difficulties, and the emotional burden of supporting a depressed parent — alongside her personal history, medical background, and initial assessment. The counselor conceptualizes the case using Dorothea Orem's self-care model and outlines a three-part counseling plan involving individual sessions, a joint mother-daughter meeting, and a medical referral. Progress, prognosis, and the limitations of available coping frameworks for adolescents are discussed.
- Client Overview and Initial Impression: Identifies Julie and describes her demeanor
- Presenting Issues and Personal History: Mother's divorce, depression, and Julie's stress
- Initial Assessment and Medical Background: Functioning level and health status reviewed
- Case Conceptualization Using Orem's Self-Care Model: Orem framework applied to Julie's situation
- Counseling Plan and Process: Three-part plan and weekly session outcomes
- Prognosis, Counselor Reflections, and Gaps in the Literature: Outlook, limitations, and adolescent literature gaps
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What makes this paper effective
- Follows a clear, numbered clinical structure that mirrors a real intake and counseling record, lending authenticity and professional credibility.
- Grounds the counseling approach in a named theoretical framework — Dorothea Orem's self-care model — rather than offering generic advice, demonstrating academic grounding.
- Balances client-specific detail with broader observations about counselor limitations and gaps in the adolescent coping literature, showing critical reflection.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied case conceptualization: the student takes a clinical scenario and maps it onto an established theoretical model (Orem's self-care model), then evaluates outcomes against that framework. This technique requires moving between descriptive reporting and analytical interpretation — a core skill in counseling and social work programs.
Structure breakdown
The paper is organized into twelve numbered clinical sections covering identifying information, initial impression, presenting issues, personal history, functioning assessment, medical history, case conceptualization, counseling plan, counseling progress, prognosis, counselor strengths and limitations, and literature gaps. This mirrors a standard clinical intake and progress note format common in undergraduate and graduate counseling coursework.
Client Overview and Initial Impression
The client, "Julie," is a white, 14-year-old female ninth-grade student with no siblings and a single mother, "Anne." She presents for this first counseling session well-groomed and appropriately dressed. She reports being in a relationship with a 17-year-old boyfriend who is a senior at her school.
Julie is intelligent and articulate, though shy and reluctant to make eye contact. Despite her apparent shyness, she was responsive to questions and gesticulated a great deal, including the use of "air quotes" and swinging her legs while speaking.
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