A Case Study of Sally and Mike - Essay Example

It is here that medical attention by way of interventions is used to help the individual overcome their grief and get on with their lives by dealing with the phenomenon of grief and loss. In this essay, I would be analyzing a typical case involving grief and loss and try to find solutions to help my patient overcome this loss by appropriate interventions. In this case study, I am the assigned councilor and have Sally and Mike, in my care. They are parents of a 6 year old son whom they had lost to the deadly disease of Cancer.

Sally, the child’s mother is distraught with grief and is incapable of coping with the situation. Her husband, Mike, on the other hand, is coping well because he understands that this is life and he accepts the loss of his son in a positive manner. Sally is going through a traumatic experience and feels guilty of the fact that a child cannot die before a parent. Mike does all he can to help Sally come to terms with the tragedy but does not succeed and Sally seems to be plunging deeper into her sadness.

2 On assessment of the above case study, it became clear to me that Sally and Mike need medical attention to help them cope with the situation and get on with their lives. In this paper, I would be discussing how to help Sally and Mike get out of their predicament and live peaceful lives. Applying the use of the ABC Model of Crisis Intervention along with Kubler –Ross’ five stages of death and dying, I made an investigation into the case to assess the level of damage caused to both the parents and thereby find the best interventions to help them cope with their tragedy.

I began the investigation, based on the ABC Model of Intervention, Kristi Kanel states in her book titled ‘A Guide to Crisis Intervention’ (1999) that a crisis is three pronged – 1) Activating or precipitating event, 2) Beliefs and subjective distress, and 3) Coping with the situation. Being the Crisis Councilor in charge of the distressed patients, in this case, Sally and Mike, I began an assessment, by using the ABC Model of intervention to make a thorough assessment of my distraught patients, and tried my best to identify the level of damage caused by the recent trauma in relation to the emotional, psychological and behavioral patterns found during the investigation.

I welcomed both of them and tried to put them at ease, especially Sally because she was brought in for treatment in a state of shock and numbness. Her orientation was quite disorganized and it was clear that she was deeply pining at the loss of her beloved son. Mike at this stage was more in composure of himself and more organized. I was really moved at their distress and attended them with great concern and spoke to them gently 3 and reassuringly. I used this intervention to put them at ease by asking them how they felt and empathized with them by listening to all they had to say.

At this stage, I kept on reassuring them, and gradually built a strong bond between them. A. Identifying the problem following the precipitating event. This stage is a great challenge to those lending support in order to identify the problem brought on by the precipitating event. Though Mike co-operated well, Sally’s mental and physical condition was in a bad shape. During this session, I had to be patient and lend a sympathetic ear when questions relating to the sad event were asked. I asked Sally, my patient to explain the events leading to the incident.

Sally was visibly upset and unable to contain her grief she bursts into tears. B. Beliefs and subjective distress Sally was in great distress because she believed that everything was lost. She felt so helpless and began shouting, asking me how it was possible