Ghalia T.

Mahran
Ms. T. Hamer & Dr. M. Scholl
CNS 786: Consultation & Program Dev.
July 4, 2021

Assignment 2.1: Consultation Case Study: Part I Case Scenario.

Counselor X is interested in consulting services with her client because she is

inexperienced with her client’s population on a cultural and a mental health level. Counselor X’s

client is a Hispanic male who was previously incarcerated for 8 years on a drug and racketeering

related charge. Client Y was also previously in a gang that some of his friends and family

members are still a part of. Client Y suffers from severe PTSD and suffers from substance abuse

addiction, he drinks every day when he wakes up and before going to bed. Client Y rejects his

therapy sessions and sometimes does not show up even though his sessions are mandated by the

state. Counselor X wants to help her client but does not know where to go from here.

Counselor X suspects that some of the compliance issues her client deals with are

because of his intoxication and not being in the right state of mind. Client Y is from a low-

income household and receives Medicaid benefits. Client Y says he struggles to get to his

sessions sometimes because he does not have enough money for the bus since he uses most of

his money to support his addiction. Client Y is very angry at the world and himself, he does not

want to continue to be “told what to do” by the state, he says he served his time and just wants to

“find a job and live a good life” now. Counselor X is trying to get the state to pay for Client Y’s

transportation to his therapy sessions or see if there is an option through Medicaid or something

else. However, Counselor X says that even if she achieves doing this for her client, she fears he

will use his bus pass for other reasons such as to buy alcohol and will make other excuses.

Client Y’s behaviors of concern are his inability to get his addiction under control and his

missing therapy sessions. Client Y also seems to feel hostility towards Counselor X even though
he knows she is just trying to help him and deeply cares about him. Client Y feels apologetic

when he is sober and wants to be better, but his cognitions contribute to the issues because of his

PTSD and cycle of addiction. Counselor X has trouble with Client Y because she has no

experience with clients who grew up in a gang and there may also be cultural barriers like Client

Y’s slang for example.

Counselor X (the consultee) has a lack of knowledge about what to do in her client’s case

or how to go about helping him. The consultee views the problem as though she needs more

experience and guidance but is eager to continue. Counselor X’s expectations for herself is that

she is going to get her client to show up to the sessions regularly and develop a better

relationship with her client, as well as develop more understanding to advocate for her client.

The consultee’s expectation for the client is that he will show up to counseling and make a real

effort. The intervention skills the consultant possesses is skills and activities for the counselor

and client that may help them build their relationship. The consultant also has many years of

experience with the client’s population. The types of treatments that are acceptable to the

consultee are CBT for PTSD and person-centered therapy in order to make the client feel heard

and not like he is “being controlled.”

The environmental aspects that reinforce the client’s negative behavior is the fact that he

lives near gang members who abuse substances some of whom are his family members. It is

more than easy for the client to get a hold of substances both legal and illegal ones and legal

ones. The constraints in the immediate environment that must be considered are the lack of

proximity the client has to people who aren’t his family members or friends who are in the gang

the client used to be a part of. Factors outside of the client’s immediate environment that could

aid his negative behavior are liquor stores, but outside the client’s immediate environment he
would be further away from peer pressure and gang members/gang related activity he grew up

around. Exercise is also vital for the client’s mental health but walking around his neighborhood

is dangerous and he says he sometimes walks around after his therapy sessions. The client does

not have any children, so it is not something he needs to worry about at the moment.