The Bio-Psycho-Social Assessment
Introduction
We live in a world that is full of chaos. Thus, there is a need for people’s lives to be enhanced to be a harmonious social equilibrium for all individuals. Thus, the primary mission that has been tasked to all social workers is to make sure that they help enhance the life of human beings so that they can live better and meet their needs. The delivery of social services is directed towards those believed to be oppressed. The other category of people thatsocial workers tends toare those who live under extreme poverty conditions. Various tools are used by social workers while executing their professional tasks.
One of the social workers’ unique tools in delivering their services is the Bio-Psycho-Social Assessment tool. This tool helps the social worker understand the experiences that the client has gone through in their life. This use of this tool also includes the client’s mental and physical health assessment. Thus, this tool is critical in the day-to-day routine of a social work professional because it is used to help social workers evaluate their clients (Bisman, 2004). Thus, using this tool allows the social worker to build a rapport that will help gain the client’s confidence as it is used to understand the client.
Bisman suggests that when a social worker deals with a client, they have to make sure that he builds trust and respect with the client to be confident when interacting with the professional (Bisman, 2004). This approach is crucial because it is an effective strategy that can engage the client successfully. Thus, so that the professional can have effective results in the professional interaction between him and the client, the relationship between the two parties must be established early by the social worker. This tool is essential to the client as it is to the social worker. This is because it allows the client to have self-reflection while seeking the help of a social worker[MV1] .
Client’s Bio-Psycho-Social Assessment
- Identifying Information[MV2]
The client seeking our services is a single mother who has been oppressed by life. Love is her name. She is eighteen years old and is of Black American origin. Based on the interaction that I have had with Love, she made it known to me that she does not have a religious background, given that she was brought up by foster parents who are atheists. Love tried to bring up her child under challenging circumstances, given that she broke up with the child’s father. Since the separation from the father of her child, given that she had the child when she was sixteen, she tried to seek employment, but she was unsuccessful. As a result, she is currently unemployed. This means that she does not have the means to have a decent income to care for her needs and those of her child.The client has no criminal record and hopes that her life will improve if she gets the help she would like.
When she came in for the meeting, Love was dressed decently. She looked elegant, although she had a sad face. That could be because of the experiences that she has had in life. During the conversation that I had with her, she proved to have a good command of the English language. However, the tone in her voice was low, probably because of her low self-esteem. She was not very open during the session because of her state of mind. She was reluctant to open up about her past experiences,probably because she seemed to avoidtheire thoughts and the memories that come with them. We agreed to have a warmer session during our next meeting[MV3] .
- Presenting Problem/Reason for Referral
The main reason why Love has been referred for assistance is that she would like to regain herself and be the custodian of her child again. Love lost her child due to her inability to provide for the child. Due to her depression, state of mind, and poverty, she neglected her duty of care for her child. The problem that is eating up Love is that she has been torn apart by guilt because of causing the breakup of her mother’s family. Donyaeh, Love’s child, had come into her life at an inappropriate timing because it was when the family had hopes of a reunion, yet they were all being drained by the consequences of their past experiences. Love was the most affected because had she not reported to her teacher eight years ago that she and her five siblings were often left with no food to eat, they could have stayed together and probably avoided the pain they are having. However, maybe the consequences of her silence could have been worse than what happened[MV4] .
- Client Description/History
Love was born Diane’s firstborn child. He had five other siblings who were younger than her. They lived with their mother in New York under poor conditions. Their mother, Diane, was swallowed up by the wave of drug addiction that swept through many cities, affecting many African Americans during the 1980s. She ended up being a crack user. Eventually, she was too deep that she could not take care of her family anymore. At the age of 8, Love happened and told her teacher that she and her siblings were often left at home without food and care. The teacher reported that issue to child care services. Child welfare took Love and her siblings from their mother and separated them by placing them under different foster families.
Ten years later, after Love’s mother had cleaned up herself off the drug issue and proved to the child welfare that she could be a good mother and could take care of her children, the family got reunited. As much as the family members had always hoped to be reunited, the reunion was not what they expected. Everyone had their lifestyle, and they barely knew each other, given that all the siblings had been brought up in different foster families. Love’s mother struggled to put up her family together after many years of wanting to be with them again.
Love, on the other hand, was going through a difficult time. She returned to her family reunion with a kid at 18 years old. She was now a young mother who knew nothing about bringing up her child. Love also went through the guilt of being the root cause of her family’s separation. More stress and depression on her end was that she had returned to her family HIV positive. Her kid’s HIV status was yet to be known for a few months.
Due to the stress that she has been going through, Love is broken. This is because her family is everything, and she is guilty because she caused it to break up. She is unable to take care of her child. Recently, her mother opened up to her therapist about her daughter, only for her to see the police at their door and takeDonyaeh away from his mother. Love has been hurt even more because she has lost her child. She is willing to go through all the procedures that will help her have her child back, and she has started by coming to us for help. Currently, Love does not have any religious development[MV5] .
- Current Functioning
Love is currently functioning improperly. She is going through depression and cannot deliver as expected of her. The main stressors that she has beenbrought about by the lack of cooperation between the family members due to their differences. The other stressor that triggers Love’s issue is that she is guilty because of the separation that has been there in her family. She thinks that if she had not reported her mother, her family could have never separated.
Having lost her child to child welfare, like she was separated from her siblings, is another stressor that she is going through. This is probably because she has been through the system and understands the trauma that individuals go through. Her family has broken apart. They barely know each other because they have lived apart and away for ten years. Being the eldest child and the cause of their family’s separation, she feels guilty for having made her family go through the events that they went through. Having lost her child, her mental well-being has gotten worse than it was because she seems to have neglected her role as the eldest sibling in her family[MV6] .
- Formulation
Based on the observation that I have made on Love, I think that he still has a chance of redemption. However, it is quite hard to tell the damage that has happened to her mental well-being. When she was in foster care, she yearned to have her family, and at the same time, she felt the guilt for having been the main reason they separated. As tears went by, her stress level increased. When she met with the father of her child, she hoped that she could have her own family, which could take away the suffering that she had. This means that she had the hope that she could be redeemed. However, the father of her child did not stay with her because he ran away from responsibility. This took away the hope that she had until her family reunited. Love became HIV positive, which increased her level of depression in her.
Love’s strength is the hope of having her child back. Because of this, she is willing to do what it takes to have her back. The reunion with her family will eventually get her back because she treasures her mother and siblings. Thus, she believes that she will be okay if her family gets back to the norm and gets her child back[MV7] .
- Intervention
Love can be redeemed through the intervention of psychological therapy. The issue that needs to be addressed during her sessions is making her understand that she played a crucial role in the rehabilitation of her mother, who was a crack addict. [MV8] She also needs to have her hope reinstated to get her daughter back. As such, she will need to be shown the need to cooperate with social workers so that they can approve her as a competent mother. The motivating factor, in this case, is that she is not a drug addict. Thus, making her understand that it will take her a short time to have full custody of her child, unlike her mother. Motivating her and letting her know that her HIV condition is manageable is important. She needs to be taught that she can live a long, happy life despite her condition if she seeks medical attention.
Marano states that effective therapy should lead to the self-acceptance of the client (Marano, 2021). Love needs to self-accept herself for a better outcome for her condition. During the sessions that we will have, she will have full knowledge of herself. After this has been done, she needs to improve the relationship quality between her and her family. Living in harmony with them will take away her guilt about being the cause of their separation. The sessions will impact her sense of considering others and thinking about their emotional well-being. Thus she has to create a conducive environment that accommodates her happiness and her family[MV9] .
I recommend a 1-hour therapy session daily with Love for the next six months. After that, based on her development, the next course of action shall be determined[MV10] .
References
Bisman, C. D. (2004). Chapter 3: Rural aging. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 41(1-2), 37-58. https://doi.org/10.1300/j083v41n01_03
Marano, H. E. (2021). The 4 pillars of effective therapy. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psychiatry-the-people/202106/the-4-pillars-effective-therapy
Heidy,
This is a good first draft of your assessment. Please see my comments.
Overall, your writing is clear and effective. Some grammatical editing is needed, which I assume you will do for your final paper.
You focus well on Love’s hopes and motivations. Also, speak about her strengths, resources and resiliencies and how she can build on those.
You will need to provide more details about emotional and behavioral challenges she is facing.
How can her family be involved in the intervention plan?
[MV1]Lovely introduction
[MV2]Center heading
[MV3]In this section, only provide identifying information. Other background information can be put into other sections
[MV4]Good concise description of presenting problem. Add to this that she is involved with ACS and this is court-ordered.
[MV5]Vivid and concise description of history
[MV6]This section needs much more development. Describe how she functions in different areas of her life. Use the assessment guide to guide you.
[MV7]It’s good that you have focused on her hopes and aspirations. You also need to focus on her emotions and behaviors and how those are impacting her life.
[MV8]Be careful about labels
[MV9]There is a good balance in here between focus on herself and focus on her family,
[MV10]This is a good start to your intervention plan