Personal Demographic Information - Assignment Example

? Assignment Byline Case History I.Demographic Information In speaking with this individual, their demographic informationwas initially recorded. The individual is a 58 year old female. She is Caucasian and from a middle class background. She is of average weight and height at 5 feet 4 inches and 150 pounds. She has been married twice and divorced twice, but is currently single. She has three adult children with ages ranging from 22 to 33. She was a high school graduate and attended college for a brief time before getting married and having children. After her second divorce, she earned a bachelor’s degree. She does not believe that she will ever have another serious relationship ever again. She has worked steadily with the same company since her second divorce over twelve years ago. She works within an office setting and is a supervisor to a few other workers. II.PERSONALITY The next portion of the case history included asking the individual about their thoughts regarding their personality. The individual described her personality as motherly, caring, and hard working. She also spoke about the aspects of her personality that she deems negative such as her bad temper and being high strung at times. She likes to garden and take care of her house. She also enjoys playing computer games and reading books. She spends several hours a day with her adult children as well and describes her relationship with her children as “very close.” She talks about how she utilizes alcohol and cigarettes in order to de-stress from her work day. She dislikes sports, shopping, and cooking. She did not grow up in a religious household, but converted to Christianity in her adult years. Her values and attitude are heavily influenced by her beliefs as she lives by Christian values such as honesty, love, turning the other cheek, and treating others as one would want to be treated. She wishes that she could better control her temper and stress levels; however, as she struggles to maintain her values in these situations. When she is in these situations, she tends to curse, hit things, and yell. Finally, she interacts well with others. She enjoys being alone when she has the opportunity, but also enjoys being around her coworkers and family. She says that she does not have any close friends, however. III.IMPORTANT/PERTINENT EVENTS: The individual has led a rather colorful life. She was born in Tokyo, Japan, as her father was in the air force as a fighter pilot. She lived all over Europe with her mother, sister, brother, and father while her father fought in World War 2. The family returned to the United States in the late 50’s when she was 7 or 8 years old. They lived in the southern part of the United States for several years before moving to California where they set up house permanently. She was an average student and was involved with cheer-leading. As a teenager, she experienced depression and tried to medicate that depression with alcohol and developed an interest in the occult for a time. She experienced some suicidal thoughts as well as a teen. She got married in her early 20’s and had a child soon after. When her child was 3, she and her husband divorced. She worked as a secretary for a while before getting married for the second time. It was during this second marriage that she converted to Christianity. She had two children with her second husband and described her life as “basically being a housewife.” She became divorced for the second time in 1999 and had to go back to school in order to be able to get a viable job that would allow her to take care of her younger children. She has since earned her degree and found a steady job. Her early life was important because it gave her a great sense of pride for the air force and armed forces in the United States. She believes it also made her feel insecure sometimes as she had to move from place to place for a large part of her childhood. She never really felt like she could call a place home as she knew she would be leaving. It also made making friends difficult as well. She describes California with great affection, but says that her teenage years were dark and confusing because she felt like she didn’t belong anywhere and felt that she had no purpose. Her marriages and children were significant in her life, mostly due to her children who she says are the “best thing that happened to her.” Neither of her marriages were happy which is why she does not think she will ever marry or have a serious relationship again. Finally, her college degree and employment were significant in that she achieved her degree later in life and has succeeded in obtaining and maintaining a job which she expresses great pride in and believes that both of these accomplishments show her that she is a strong and capable person. IV.IMPROVEMENT AREAS: The individual does not believe she needs to really improve in her relationships with others. She expresses a desire to control her tempter better. She also sees her relationship with alcohol to be much stronger than it needs to be and wants to quit using it when she is particularly stressed or upset. She thinks that she would like to speak to a therapist sometimes because she experiences extreme anger and depression which she believes are signs of mental illness to a certain extent. She says that she often jokes about having bipolar disorder, but doesn’t know for sure if that is true or accurate. Mostly, it appears that she wants to improve her mental and emotional health. V.INTERVIEW OBSERVATIONS: The individual was very cooperative. She seemed to enjoy reflecting on certain aspects of her life such as her history. She seemed a bit uncomfortable when talking about her alcohol use and temper, and it seemed like she tried to gloss over those aspects a bit. Overall though, she was easy to talk to and participated fully. Read More