BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL ASSESSMENT
Introduction For this assignment, you will select a client from the Client Assessment and Treatment Plan and complete all components of the Biopsychosocial Assessment form for your client. When details from the case are vague or missing, you are encouraged to elaborate and add to the case to create a richer client picture. This assignment is intended to mimic the initial report that you would write for a new client. It culminates with a treatment plan for your selected client in Week 9. A biopsychosocial assessment is completed during and after the first session with a client. It is a report that offers a comprehensive overview of the client. If you have never written or seen a biopsychosocial report, please research examples online. The report used at a particular organization or by a particular counselor may be different, but all reports have domains (health history, education, legal history, and drug/alcohol history) in common. This assignment is not a traditional paper like you have written in other courses. A few things to note: While you would not be citing professional literature throughout a typical biopsychosocial assessment, for this assignment (and all others in this course), you should support your statements with frequent references to peer-reviewed journal articles from the past 5 years. Provide APA formatted in-text citations and list all references used in the Reference field of the form. Remember that your work for this assignment should be written primarily in your own words. Avoid cutting and pasting information from the case into your report; it is better to find a way to summarize this information in your own words.
Case Study of JoelleJoelle is a 22-year-old female. She has come to counseling because she wants to know herself better and be brave enough to let others know her too. She came out as bisexual several months ago and has had mixed reactions to this announcement. She has told a few friends, and some of them have disowned her. She has not told her parents or her best friend because she is worried that the same thing might happen (being disowned). She reports being conflicted about her sexuality for the past four or five years, and that she has known that she was different for a long time. She did not do anything about this in high school and ignored how she felt because she was worried about what others would say. Now that she is in college and on her own, she feels it is safer to be able to explore her sexuality. She reports three relationships with men and two relationships with women, but the relationships with women were a secret. The last woman broke up with her because Joelle insisted on secrecy. Joelle reports a stable family environment growing up in a two-parent home. She reports that her mother was very controlling and tried to make her do “all sorts of things” while she was growing up. She mostly complied because she did not want to get into trouble. She reports that her dad was somewhat dismissive and allowed her mom to ‘control the house’. She says that she got good grades throughout high school and was basically a “stellar” child. She played basketball and tennis and was interested in sports her junior and senior year. She has one older brother and one younger sister, and strong relationships with both siblings. She has lived away from home for the past three years, living on campus the first year the last two years in a house off campus with friends. She has been part of a sorority since her freshman year and feels very connected to the women who also are part of the sorority. She is worried that if they find out about her secret, they might kick her out of the sorority. She is studying environmental sciences and says she is happy with this choice. Her grades are As and Bs and she is on track to graduate in the fall. Joelle has little income and is primarily supported by her parents. She works part-time on campus in the dean’s office and she likes this job, but she knows she needs to find something different that is more in her field of study. She reports no drug use, but some alcohol use. She primarily drinks at parties with her sorority sisters. She reports no past or current legal problems, and no medical problems. She was raised Catholic, but is currently not practicing. She believes there is a God, but does not know how to reconcile this belief with her thoughts and feelings about herself. She states that her faith only makes her feel guilt. She states that she is worried that she is bisexual and that she is never going to “pick a side.” Her gay and lesbian friends always tease her that she just “falls in the middle.” Joelle says that she is trying to decide between you and another therapist. This therapist is a friend of the family. She has not had an appointment with the therapist, but has had a brief conversation with her. The therapist told her that she could help Joelle get rid of her feelings of same-sex attraction. When you refer to this as conversion therapy, Joelle looks uncomfortable. She says that she knows it’s not likely to work, but it’s tempting, because it really would be easier to just not be bisexual anymore.