Counselor: Irish Palmer
Client: Bertha
Date: October 4, 2019
Data
Meeting with my client Bertha today for about 45 minutes. Bertha was diagnosed of having a chronic body pain. Client said she feels frustrated on her situation. Always feeling pain makes her depress that she cant do the things that she used to do before when she was young and not having pain. Client said taking pain reliever makes her weak. Client showing happiness when we talk about her children and grandchildren. On our session she talked many times about her grand children and her face lights up.
Client also said when she moved to the home for the aged at least her frustration lessen. Because of many activities, she feels she is not alone. Client moved her arms many times waggling her legs while talking. Sometimes she doesnt have an eye contact, put her coat on then remove again.
Assessment
Client was comfortable disclosing details about prior treatment and mental health history.
Exhibits excellent insight and desire for continued personal growth but is frustrated with ongoing struggles and feeling pain. Thinking about my client problem the medicine she is taking seems not working. Because she always feeling pain, she doesnt want to go to the home activities sometimes. Client not even want to go for her therapy schedule. Client said that physical therapy makes her pain worsen. The whole time of our session Bertha seems something bothers on her mind. Losing eye contact, it bothers me that there is something Bertha wanted to say. She then started talking about wanting to go out and visit her kids for the weekend and how its the only thing that helps her feel better these days.
Plan
Client will attend weekly sessions in my office. with the option a visiting session if needed. Assist client in identifying the appropriate weekly homework tasks before the end of each session. Client will provide homework for the next session. Weekly assignment is to gather all to do lists and pending tasks to bring in for next session and label with priority level. Next session scheduled for 10/11/19 at 9am.
Reflection
At the start of the session with my client Bertha, I began working toward building a stronger rapport with her by saying that I am here to support her. After about a minute of the greeting, I began the session by asking her if she had spoken to her roommates. I have a good welcoming remark for this session. A good body language, eye contact, and a proper level tone of voice but I need to limit my question one at a time. I am now aware of new areas of my counseling style that need improvement. Asking a few strong open-ended questions in the beginning should keep me in the mind set to continue to ask open ended questions during the session.