Case Study
Patient Demographic:  Initial Intake: Age: 27 Sex: Female Gender: Female Sexuality: Declined Ethnicity: Hispanic/African American Relationship Status: Single Counseling Setting: Community Agency Type of Counseling: Individual
Mental Status Exam: The client presents as her stated age with positive signs of self-care related to hygiene and dress. She appears overweight for height as noted in her intake. Her mood and affect are congruent and she appears to be cooperative and forthcoming in her responses. She demonstrates no retardation, spasticity, or hyperactivity of motor activity. She is oriented and demonstrates no unusual thought processes or patterns. Her insight is intact and she identifies goals for therapy. She reports no suicidal ideations, thoughts of harm to self or others, or difficulties with memory, judgement, or concentration. 
Presenting Problem: You are a counselor in a community agency that provides counseling.  Your client presents with a history of convictions for felony criminal offenses in her early 20s, of weight loss and gains since college, and currently rates herself as approximately 50 pounds overweight. She describes herself in years past as “fat,” “ugly,” and “grotesque.” She reports one long term relationship during high school and college, with a male she tells you was “manipulative, controlling, and emotionally abusive. She reports not “dating-dating” since their break up six years ago. She does report that recently she has engaged in self-destructive behaviors with different people in the context of online relationships. She states that in several cases, she has met men and women online and used elaborate methods, including using multiple telephone numbers and creating false names and life events to establish relationships with these individuals. Several relationships ended abruptly when the individuals, both male and female, made concerted efforts to meet the client, at which time she disclosed the truth to them. She tells you that she feels very badly about what she did, particularly because she had been helping each of the people with different problems in their lives, including one of the women with an abusive spouse, and she believes now these people will have no help.  She attended counseling for several months three years ago but reports she did not tell the counselor everything. Today she tells you that she is now in a professional graduate program for counseling and wants to be open about everything so she can “finally get her life in order.”
Other Contexts: Family History:
The client reports her support system as several male and female friends. She feels close to these people though she says they sometimes irritate her. She describes her father as distant and her mother as strict and controlling. She states she and her siblings were punished frequently for not following their mother’s strict expectations for “how young women and young men should act.” She states she and her siblings were required to engage in daily exercise; always dress in “their Sunday best” during childhood; and focus on dieting, food intake, and weight ideals. She tells you she daily engaged in binging and purging from age 13 to age 20, but never told anyone or saw a doctor for this. She tells you that she has not binge/purged for the past five years. She states that her sister did the same and still struggles with it, and two other siblings are in treatment for alcohol and methamphetamine addiction. Additionally, the client tells you that both of her maternal and paternal grandparents have histories of alcoholism, and she smiles when telling you that one of her grandparents was imprisoned for criminal behavior and “is connected.” She says that several other maternal and paternal relatives have criminal convictions.

Question: Which of the following should you discuss with the client in preparation for counseling?
(A): Counseling is only effective when the client feels safe enough to be themselves.
(B): Counseling is hard work and sometimes she will leave feeling emotionally tired.
(C): Counseling works best if the client commits to weekly sessions in the first few months.
(D): Counseling only works if the client is completely truthful with the counselor.

Correct Answer: Counseling is only effective when the client feels safe enough to be themselves.
Explanation: Research has shown that the therapeutic relationship between client and counselor is the most important element in effective counseling. When the client feels safe enough to be themselves, they will, in the therapy room, act in the same ways that they interact with others, which allows the counselor to help them look at their interpersonal style and skills. As a result, the client can choose new ways to think, feel, and behave. It is true that counseling is hard, clients will sometimes leave tired, and counseling can move faster if clients attend weekly at first. The latter is not a requirement for effective counseling however and slower gains are still beneficial. Counseling is easier and may work more effectively if a client is truthful with the counselor but it is not necessary. Clients may tell their stories from a skewed perspective and the truth they tell may not be what actually occurred. Counselors are trained to observe clients and through empathic attunement and responses may help clients work on ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving without knowing the full circumstances about an event. Therefore, the correct answer is (C)
Competency: intake, assessment, and diagnosis