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Bonnie
Identifying Information
Bonnie Bennett is a 14 year old White female at Kingston High School. Bonnie is
fourteen years old and is currently in the ninth grade. Bonnie identifies herself as a non-religious
individual and she has never been to any religious services. Bonnie also identifies herself as
Italian, but does not really know much about what that means because her family does not
incorporate the Italian culture into their lives.
Presenting Problem
Bonnie was referred to counseling by J. Collins, a school counselor at Kingston High
School and the supervisor of the school counseling intern currently working with Bonnie. Bonnie
Bennett is new to the Kingston School District this academic school year where she transferred
to from Rondout. Bonnie occasionally visited Mr. Collins in the school counseling office in the
beginning of the school year regarding instances of being bullied by other students in the school.
It was after working with Bonnie, that Mr. Collins discovered that Bonnies mother had passed
away in early July at the age of 40 due to breast cancer. Mr. Collins spoke with Bonnies
guardian, her grandmother, and discovered that Bonnie has struggled with depression for a large
portion of her life and is currently struggling with depression. Bonnies grandmother notified Mr.
Collins that in July, Bonnie had attempted to swallow a large amount of pills in attempt to take
her life, but had decided not to do so. No one was aware of this at the time except for her
younger brother and her younger sister. Bonnie also disclosed to Mr. Collins that she had been a
self-injurer (cutter) from age of ten to the present time. As Mr. Collins increasingly started to
speak with Bonnie about this, he recommended that the school counseling intern, Ms. Knapp
meet regularly with Bonnie as well as the school social worker. After Ms. Knapp started working


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with Bonnie, she discovered that Bonnie struggles with depression and anger. Bonnie labels
herself as bipolar even though she has no such diagnosis and she knows that her anger is an
issue when it comes to her making friends in school. After working with Bonnie, it is clear to
Ms. Knapp that Bonnie is lacking self-confidence and self-esteem and she believes what other
students or adults say about her and takes what they say to heart. Bonnie seems to be having
trouble adjusting to the Kingston School District and is having trouble making friends and
opening up to others because she is fearful that people wont like her despite the fact that in
Rondout she had made many friends and still keeps in touch with them. In her previous school
district, Bonnie has had recurring issues of being cyber-bullied and that has carried on to her
experiences in the Kingston School District (although it does not occur as often as it used to).
Bonnie is currently struggling academically and most of her grades consist of Cs and high Ds
for the current marking period which ends on November 8, 2013. Bonnies teachers say that she
puts forth effort in her classes, but it is difficult for her to focus and she gets angry and shuts
down.
Psychosocial History
Bonnies biological father left her mother when Bonnie was a baby and Bonnies mother
remarried to Bonnies stepfather when Bonnie was four years of age. Bonnies mother and her
stepfather had 2 children together, one boy and one girl. Due to her mothers cancer diagnosis
when Bonnie was eight years old, Bonnie had to step up and help out by taking care of her
brother and her sister so that her mother and stepfather had a little less to worry about and so that
her stepfather could have more time to work to pay her mothers medical bills. Bonnie discussed
with Ms. Knapp how she was not very close with her mother because of her mothers illness and
because she had a lot of responsibilities relating to her siblings and taking care of the house.


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Bonnies mother passed away from breast cancer in July 2013 at the age of 40. Bonnie was very
saddened by this because she felt as though her mother had always blamed her for her biological
father leaving them, and that she was not able to be close to her mother due to her
responsibilities. Bonnie described that her mothers passing was both good and bad because her
mother was in pain for quite some time and it was better for her to be at peace, but it was still a
sad experience for Bonnie. After her mothers passing, Bonnies stepfather was finding it
difficult to take care of all three children. Bonnie became more depressed and angry and her
stepfather didnt know how to deal with this while he was grieving the loss of his wife. Bonnie
had tried to consume pills in late July with the idea that they would take her life, but she was not
successful and later realized that she was wrong to attempt to take her life. Her younger brother
who is currently twelve years old and sister who is currently eleven years old were aware of this
incident and informed her father in the hopes of getting Bonnie in trouble. Her stepfather
arranged for her to see a therapist and for her to live with her maternal grandparents for the time
being. Bonnies grandmother is very involved with Bonnies academic and psychosocial
development and is always readily available to discuss any concerns or questions about Bonnie.
Although Bonnie feels very close to her stepfather, she enjoys living with her grandparents
because it helps her feel closer to her mother and also helps because she only sees her siblings
two weekends a month. Her younger brother and sister have continuously bullied her for most of
their lives. Bonnie expressed to Ms. Knapp that her younger siblings are constantly tormenting
her and telling her that she is not a real part of the family because their father is not her father.
Her siblings also constantly tell Bonnie that she is fat and that she should kill herself to make
their lives better. When her siblings learned about Bonnies incident of taking pills, her younger
brother responded too bad you suck at even trying to kill yourself. These siblings have been a


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large source of Bonnies depression and anger for some time now and Bonnie has repeatedly
tried to explain to her stepfather (and even her mother when she was alive) that they had been
treating her in this way, but it was difficult for her parents to hear and they had more important
things to worry about. Bonnies past academic grades were mostly in the low to high Bs range
and she has always been well liked by her teachers and school counselors. Bonnie also has a
boyfriend of seven months who is fifteen years old and goes to school in Rondout. Bonnie has no
interest in becoming sexually active with her boyfriend because she realizes that she is young
and that she has issues in her life that she needs to get control over before allowing herself to get
too serious with her boyfriend and her boyfriend is very supportive of this decision and is
supportive to Bonnie for her issues.
Course of Treatment
Bonnie has met with Ms. Knapp twice so far and will continue to meet with her one day
per week for the academic school year. Bonnie was unsure of whether or not she wanted to meet
with Ms. Knapp when Mr. Collins first suggested it, however, after Ms. Knapp attempted to
develop a rapport with Bonnie (outside of counseling sessions), Bonnie seemed to feel more
comfortable in working with Ms. Knapp and with being recorded. Ms. Knapp made it seem as
though Bonnie would be helping Ms. Knapp by helping her to learn more about working with
students and being a school counselor which made Bonnie feel more comfortable as well because
it wasnt all about her. The main topics of discussion in the sessions between Ms. Knapp and
Bonnie include exploring her mothers passing and the thoughts and feelings that arise with that,
and also the depression and anger that Bonnie feels and what exactly those feelings are like. Ms.
Knapp and Bonnie also have discussed the goals that Bonnie would like to work on in her time
with Ms. Knapp.


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Case Formulation
The theoretical orientation of the counseling sessions between Ms. Knapp and Bonnie are
based on the Transtheoretical Model and a Person-Centered approach. From a Transtheoretical
perspective, Ms. Knapp believes that Bonnie is in the preparation stage of the model because she
is aware of her issues and is in the process of trying to change behaviors (e.g. cutting, getting
angry, etc.). Bonnies concerns about self-confidence, making friends, and being bullied are
valid and real and have been experiences that she has faced for quite some time. Ms. Knapp sees
Bonnies concerns as situational because a lot of the issues that Bonnie is facing are related to
the situations that she has been placed into throughout her life. A Person-Centered theoretical
orientation will also be incorporated into the counseling sessions with Bonnie because Bonnie
seems to need an empathetic and caring adult to listen to her issues and concerns. She seems to
really need someone to just be open and non-judgmental towards her. In this case, unconditional
positive regard is important in that there is no judgement placed on Bonnie or her behaviors that
she is disclosing to Ms. Knapp. Bonnie is very aware that self-injury is an issue and has
disclosed to Ms. Knapp that she wants to stop cutting and that she has already tried to stop
cutting. Bonnie is eager to work with Ms. Knapp to develop coping strategies for when she is
feeling depressed or angry (because these are the times when she is most likely to cut herself)
and thinks about cutting herself. She is able to recognize the feeling (with Ms. Knapps help) that
she develops when she thinks about cutting and is able to focus on trying to lead herself away
from those feelings when they occur. There are certain things that cannot be changed in Bonnies
life including her mothers death, and how her siblings treated and bullied her. What can be
changed, however, is the strategies that Bonnie can use to cope with her feelings about these
situations and her thoughts and feelings relating to depression and anger. Bonnies self-


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confidence and her fear in opening up to making friends are also things that can be changed,
along with her academic grades. Bonnie has many strengths including her ability to identify the
feelings or thoughts that she has and being able to express those feelings or thoughts to an adult
such as Ms. Knapp or Mr. Collins. Bonnie recognizes that she has the issue of self-injury and she
has a desire to stop cutting which is also a strength because many individuals who are cutters
may not have the strength or desire to stop and change the behavior. Bonnie has demonstrated a
sense of determination and willingness to change and is very present and aware in her counseling
sessions. Bonnie has a strong desire to change and with working with Ms. Knapp will be able to
find ways to grow and feel more confident so that she can make friends and feel more
comfortable in school. With this, it is hopeful that Bonnie may not feel as angry or depressed, but
can also work to find the source of her feelings and coping strategies for these feelings. When it
comes to transference in the counseling relationship, Bonnie seems to see Ms. Knapp as someone
who will listen to her and reassure her, and she has stated that she feels very comfortable in
speaking with Ms. Knapp and is growing more comfortable in each session. When it comes to
countertransference in the counseling relationship, Ms. Knapp is aware that she needs to be
careful of her own feelings because she has caught herself in instances of feeling sorry for
Bonnie that she has lost her mother and Ms. Knapp cannot imagine losing her own mother.
Goals/ Plans for Treatment
Ms. Knapp will continue to be a source of support and will be open to listening to
Bonnies experiences and feelings. They will continue to work with each other once a week for
the school year and will slowly begin to focus more closely on specific feelings and triggers to
those feelings. Bonnie and Ms. Knapp will also continuously be working on finding appropriate
coping strategies for Bonnie when she does feel depressed or angry. They will also be working


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together to find the source of Bonnies insecurities and lack of self-confidence. Bonnies main
goal when she first started working with Ms. Knapp was to stop cutting and to find another way
to relieve her anger and depression. Ms. Knapp believes that this is an important goal and this
will be something that they will be working on in their counseling sessions.