7-2 Case Study Final Paper

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Southern New Hampshire University *

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200

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Psychology

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Apr 29, 2024

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docx

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8

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1 Case Study 1: Robert’s Alcoholism Barbara Ruiz Department of Psychology, Southern New Hampshire University PSY 200: Foundations of Addictions Counseling Professor Chris Aguilar April 16, 2024
2 Case Study 1: Robert’s Alcoholism Robert is a 66-year-old male who has been retired for the last four years. He is a husband, father, grandfather, and friend. Robert presents with an alcohol addiction. He has been married to his wife, Colleen, for 44 years, and together they raised 2 daughters and had numerous pets. They have lived in the same house for the last 35 years. Robert and Colleen sleep in separate bedrooms, mainly due to Robert’s drinking behavior. As soon as he would get his chores and errands done, he would begin drinking in the late morning. They would have less frequent conversations as time passed, as Colleen had no desire to speak with Robert when he had been drinking. She felt as though all she had to say to him were negative things about what he was doing or not doing, asking questions such as, “Have you been drinking?” As a consequence, Robert felt like all she did was nag him. Colleen reported that his drinking became worse after he retired, or that perhaps she started to notice it more. He began to go to bed earlier and she felt that he went to bed early so that he was able to drink without having her nag him about it. Certain health issues began to arise that were complicated by Robert’s years of drinking alcohol and his doctor was performing blood tests every 3 months to monitor his diabetes mellitus and prostate concerns, resulting in the doctor telling Robert that he needed to discontinue drinking. Initial contact to see if interventional help was appropriate was made by Harriet, Robert’s adult daughter, who stated that others were concerned about Robert’s drinking, as well. This interview was conducted over the phone due to the family’s location in a large city on the West Coast. There was a more comprehensive history taken, but this was not provided in the case study. On the assessment of this case study, because Robert’s addiction involves alcohol, the physiological procedure the client uses for the administration of his substance addiction is oral.
3 The environment in which the client spends his time appears to be at home having retired four years prior and he retires to his bedroom early each evening. Support within his family includes his wife Colleen, adult daughter Harriet, younger daughter Liz, older sister Marsha, older brother Franz (who lived in Sweden), younger brother Bill, and nephew Mark. He also had support from his long-time co-worker and friend Arthur, as well as his friend Terry. These individuals became the interventional team members and interviews were conducted over the phone. They were given a homework assignment of writing a letter to Robert regarding their concerns, as well as their feelings. Harriet was contacted by a residential treatment program and admission arrangements were made should Robert decide to go for rehabilitation after the upcoming intervention. A role-play scenario was scheduled with plans to follow with the intervention the following day. On the day of the role-play scenario, the interventional team members met at Marsha’s house at 1:30 p.m. in the same city where Colleen and Robert lived. During approximately 4 hours, everyone had an opportunity to speak. There was a lot of apprehension on whether an intervention would be successful with Robert. Some of the team members raised concerns about issues greater than just alcoholism, such as marital relationship issues. Some were also concerned that he might decide to leave the intervention. Solutions were discussed and team members read their letters out loud. While some cried, one person was very angry with Robert. Feelings were processed and a conclusion was reached that Robert was slowly killing himself with his alcoholism. In her letter, Harriet stated that if her father was unwilling to accept the help being offered, she would no longer allow him to spend time with his grandchildren. All letters were read by the conclusion of the scenario, they each received feedback from others, received
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