Susie is a 10-year-old girl living with her maternal aunt and her husband. Others in the house include Susie’s younger brother, her aunt and uncle’s 8-year-old child (a girl), and Susie’s grandparents. Susie and her brother were removed from her parent’s care for neglect 2 years ago. Susie says she is “confused” why she can’t return to live with her parents. Her aunt has sought your help to figure out the situation because Susie does not have any friends at school and is a bully to other children. Her aunt has been called 4 times to school in the last month over Susie bullying other children. According to the school nurse, Susie is 30 pounds overweight. She also wears hearing aids for childhood loss of hearing. The school has not identified any bullying towards Susie over these issues. Susie’s aunt says Susie stays to herself at home. She does not have issues with the other two children in the home. However, when Susie came to live in this home she would steal food and hide food in her room. Susie’s aunt says this still continues today despite the family having normal meals together.
Susie’s parents have a history of depression, alcoholism, and domestic violence. Susie’s parents now have a new baby living with them. Susie remembers drinking and drug use by her parents when she lived with them. In addition, she found her mother after she had slit her wrists trying to commit suicide. Susie describes this with very little emotion. Susie’s parents have been homeless for extended periods of time, including the last six months they lived in a car before she was removed from their care. Susie is below average in language, social and emotional development.
Susie’s grandparents pray for her openly in front of her and the other children. This is confusing to Susie why they don’t pray for the other children like this. Susie describes all situations with very little emotion and she shows a lack of expressiveness about her feelings and experiences.
Answer the following questions:
What are the positives in this scenario? What are the negatives? Discuss.
What are your first concerns? In what order would you address these concerns? How would you begin to address these concerns?
Are there services or community resources that would be supportive of this situation where you live?
Are there any ethnic/cultural/ethical considerations that seem relevant? Discuss why or why not.
Write 5 open-ended questions that you would ask in this situation. Who would you address these questions to? (You can manage these questions to more than one person in the scenario if applicable.)
Identify any possible transference/countertransference issues that you might deal with in this situation.
It needs to have at least 5 open-ended questions, and I always copy the questions on the paper and then answer them.
