The Cortez Family Paper

The Sanchez family wants the local social service agency to provide a psychosocial assessment. As a social worker at the agency, they will apply sociocultural and social change lenses. To demonstrate an understanding how each of the theoretical or perspective lenses can apply to the Sanchez family case. To identify their problems, determine their skills and capacities, what they are doing well, how they accomplish it and then analyze ways that those strengths might apply to the identified problems.

1. The following paper discusses a case scenario of Adrian, Judy, and Pam. The family is presenting to therapy in regards to their concern about their adult daughter (Pam) not listening to her parents (Adrian and Judy) requests. From the beginning of the session, it is apparent each member has a different view of what their role is in the family. Roles are vital in ensuring healthy family functioning and should be clearly defined so that each member understands what they are to accomplish (Tobin, 2016a). It is revealed later into the session that Judy and Adrian were not able to conceive children, so they adopted both Pam and their deceased son, Victor. Victor committed suicide ten years ago.

Jugamos con Ninos is a parenting group for Latino mothers at Children Medical Practice within John Hopkins Bayview Hopsital founded by Joshua Barnes a social worker. Barnes created the program a social worker at the Children Medical Practice at Bayview Hospital. His inspiration to build this program at Bayview Hospital was inspire by his colleague Jessica Contreras a community health worker at Bayview Hospital and the founder of the program Jugamos Con Ninos at Casey Family Services. Joshua volunteered to work with Jessica and since has noticed how impactful the program was for new mothers and mothers that don’t understand how important it is to build effective parenting skills. After, observing the influence that the program had on the mothers that attended the meetings he immediately requested that this program should be created at the clinic for the mothers in the Hispanic culture.

Leon Dash’s book, Rosa Lee: A Mother and Her Family in Urban America, follows the life of a mother whom is affected by poverty, drugs, and abuse while trying to provide for her 8 children and grandchildren. I will be creating a family assessment on this family. According to Anna Mcphatter, there are five crucial areas in a comprehensive family assessment: problem identification, family structure, family functioning, family strengths and resources, and intervention plan and method of evaluation. All of which will be analyzed throughout this family assessment.

Jennifer Gomez is a 10-year-old Hispanic female who, has recently lost her father to a heart attack and is struggling with overcoming the pain. Her family and friends have noticed that she has been having trouble with expressing the pain of her father’s lost, but believe that the pain will only be temporary because of her vibrant personality. Jennifer primary doctor Baret, has noticed an unexplained weight loss and lost of interest in Jennifer causing a concerned that she’s not getting enough calories and losing her appetite because of her loved one loss. Dr.Baret is certain that Jennifer’s sudden change is because of her father’s lost and is referring her to a social worker at Children’s Hospital. Patient/Client

Lanesha is a 12 year old girl that has been having trouble with her temper and her anger in almost every aspect of her daily life. Her medicine and compliance to her treatment plan are no different. As a teenager, she does not want to continually be hassled and bothered. So to avoid this she constantly is telling the providers lies, or in her mind, “what they want to hear.” (http://support.mchtraining.net/national_ccce/case1/Flash/activity1.html). Lanesha has a sense of neglect from her grandmother because she states that she want to act like everything is fine as to appease her Grandmothers temperament. Marietta, also shares in frustration but also has a great deal of added stress as she also cares for her 10 year old grandchild and also her older ailing mother. Marietta exudes many of the qualities spoken by Dr. Horky in her presentation; her own age is taking a toll on her ability to care for Lanesha, she is worried about Lanesha. Due to Lanesha’s age and behavior however, Marietta is experiencing depression and grief. Almost portrays a sense that she has given up, like she has done all that she can. (Horky, n.d.). Other socioeconomic issues are in Marietta’s forefront.

The Sanchez family is a large family that is in need of social services. Each family member has their own needs that are influenced by their culture and environment. It’s important to understand a person or system, their environment, and how they interact; the following examines the

Attachment theory “posits that the real relationships of the earliest stages of life indelibly shape our survival functions in basic ways and that for the rest of the lifespan attachment processes lie at the center of the human experience” (Schore & Schore, 2008 ). The empowerment theory seeks to help individuals obtain the power of decision and action over their lives (Payne, 2014). This is achieved by increasing their self-confidence and reducing their access to social factors that may be a barrier (Payne, 2014). The feminist theory proposes “a high value to diversity and women’s individual choice” (Payne, 2014). The attachment theory, empowerment theory, and feminist theory are relevant when working with Hispanic Families.

Isabelle, a 25 year-old woman, began treatment with Dr. Dee after family members recommended she find relief for her feelings of guilt, hopelessness, loss of appetite, and lack of energy. Upon entry of her first session, Isabelle noted to Dr. Dee that she consulted with her doctor about her symptoms prior to scheduling an appointment. She reported her doctor did not find any medical causes of her symptoms and suggested they were most likely derivatives of a psychological matter. Following a thorough assessment, Dr. Dee concluded Isabelle was suffering from major depressive disorder. With her informed consent, Dr. Dee and Isabelle began therapy on a weekly basis. Isabelle slowly opened up about past experiences with each subsequent session. Her sessions were primarily focused on the break-up with her college sweetheart and fiancé; Isabelle never revealed his name over the course of nine months in therapy. She reported they broke-up approximately seven months prior to her attending therapy and felt her symptoms worsened during that period. Isabelle stated they had a fairly good

The next area of focus presented itself after asking certain questions in this area. Mr. and Mrs. Lake discuss the emotional stress brought on by moving from California to Arizona last year and leaving their 23 year old handicapped son Brad behind in California. Brad resides in a group home where he has lived for the past 10 years. He is very accustomed to his environment there; his needs are put first and it is best for him to stay there. To cope they contact his’ group home weekly to evaluate his needs and concerns the home may have. In addition, plans are made so Mrs. Lake can drive or fly to California to attend important meetings and appointments with her son Bradley. She describes the stress of being so far from her son very hard. She states she relies on her husband, Christian faith, and Brads’ care-takers to help her cope. Observations of this couple show a very solid support system provided

family is currently going through health, housing and economic issues. The Ramirez family consists of the father Mr. Juan Ramirez, age 81. Maria Ramirez, age 42, is the oldest daughter and Olga, age 28 is the youngest. Daughter Maria has two children they are Marco, age 22, who is diagnosed with Autism and daughter Lisa, 17 years old. The social worker has applied the strength perspective and the ecosystems perspective in helping them to assist their issues. The prioritized issues that will be face are Mr. Ramirez health issues, the possibility of loosing their home, and the economic issues the family is facing at the moment. The social work will abide

In the vignette, it is mentioned that the client Julie, a 34-year-old African American female, is calling about her son 12-year-old son Derik, who seems to be having an adjustment issue relating to her recent marriage to John. Although Julie indicated that she is calling on behalf of her son’s adjustment problem, she spends most of the time talking about her dissatisfaction at work and within her romantic life. When approaching this case through a solution-focused lens, I would stress to her that anyone who is concerned about the problem situation (Derik’s adjustment problem, although it is apparent there are other issues) should attend the sessions. In the initial intake phase, little information is taken, understanding that the client is the expert in what needs to change; as the therapist, my role is to help her access the strengths she already possesses.

The reason I believe this is so because Susanne experienced these issues at an early age. Susanne was only 18 years old when she was sent to the Claymoore private hospital. Susanne had maladaptive behaviors. Her parents and others in the community wanted her to be normal but she wasn’t providing appropriate adjustment to her environment. Susanne had a hard time believing that something was even wrong with her.

The next day after meeting with Gloria, I checked in with her to see how see was doing. As soon as she sat down, tears started coming down her face. I could sense how much pain she was in, but I did not know why she was feeling like this. Knowing that this was already affecting her academically, I asked her if she would like to have regular meetings with me. When she agreed, I gave her an informed consent to take to her parents. Towards the end of the meeting, she spoke to me about her life in Guatemala, her culture, beliefs, and values. After she was done, I also disclosed my values, in order for her to know more about me. For the following meetings, I decided to use Feminist therapy and Family Systems therapy. I was hopeful that these two approaches would be effective during our sessions.

There are many factors to be considered when analyzing a case. Evaluating these factors is essential to understanding client perceptions, recognizing client strengths, identifying client supports and resources, and determining the appropriate treatment and outcomes for clients. Every person has various systems of whthey are apart. Each system has a role in the life of the person. This analysis of Emma’s case study will examine the possible roles that the systems in her life have played in her current situation.