Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Case Plan for Hypothetical Client
Living in Rockford, Joan Jones is married to Joel Dons and they have a family with one child. Married for over ten years, Joan feels that they have cemented their life together for a time long enough to withstand any problems in the family. However, their marriage is experiencing a rocky road in three main perspectives; financial problems, marital problems and family issues. The husband is not keen on spending money prudently but he is engaging in an expensive lifestyle of alcoholism. As a result, there are violence and problems in fulfillment of his marital responsibilities. His parents and relatives are also influencing their decision to have another child. Described below is a case plan for the hypothetical client.
Counselor: what happened to make toy say that your marriage is crumbling down?
Joan: my marriage is marked by several problems, not just one
Counselor: which are the problems?
Joan: my husband is spending money in a very expensive trend, of late, he has started drinking and the behavior has heavily reduced his income contribution to the family.
Counselor: who settles the bills at the family?
Joan: I do. Since the beginning of last year, I was forced to settle all the bills so as not to affect the family, especially our daughter’s life.
Counselor: when you say all, do you mean that you settled the bills before?
Joan: yes, I was. We had agreed that large bills like school fees should be financed by him and household utility bills settled with me. This is because he earns more than me and my job’s income progression is not higher.
Counselor: what do you intend to do about it
Joan: I am contemplating taking a second part time job to increase my income
Counselor: what is the result of his recent behavior?
Joan: my income is strained so that I can cater for the family and our daughter. In addition, he has no appeal for his marital responsibilities and time with me and the daughter.
Counselor: What are the relatives of your husband doing about the situation?
Joan: they are adding even more problems to our issue.
Counselor: what do you mean by that?
Joan: they have over time insisted to him that we need to have another child, an issue that is a direct infringement to our decision making. Therefore, they are not willing to talk to him about his behavior.
Counselor: what makes you worried about the situation?
Joan: I never expected to have a failed marriage in my life ever, now the signs are well written on the war. However, my biggest worry is the future of my daughter. I really want her to be raised in a family that is complete and has the right environment.
Counselor: are you worried about yourself
Joan: Yes, but not as much as I am worried about my daughter. If nothing changes, I will make any appropriate decision for the betterment of my daughter.
Counselor: Ok. I see
Contract Goals
The goals of the client were determined as follows;
The client is right to worry about the daughter from the marriage with her husband risks poor upbringing of the young lady.
The client should reason with the husband’s relatives in regard to the number of children that the couple should have. The goal is to help them understand that that is a personal decision with her husband and not the family. This will be able to satisfy the community that is formed by the extended family.
If the financial situation of the client, Joan is enhanced with a part time job for the extra income, she will be able to take care of her daughter comfortably. However, this goal will disregard the goal of her husband taking care of her family.
Change of behavior of her husband would be the most important goal that will restore her marriage.
Type of Contract
The type of the contract that was utilized in the case above is an overt contract this is because the case follows the information based on what the customer says. According to Ungar (2011), the overt contract is based on the information that the customer provides to the counselor. Under this contract, the counselor gets the information from the client, thereby making her the main source of knowledge about her family (Parrott, 2003). The Covert type of contract could not be used because the behavior of the client, Joan does in the case does not lead to any knowledge about her situation.
The type of the contract can significantly impact the effectiveness of a case plan. The contract type impacts the case plan by providing the counselor with a basis of getting information from the client (Hughes & Wells, 2006). In a case where the behavior of the client is the main determinant of the information, the counselor will seek such information by applying covert contract by directing questions that invoke the conduct of the client (Tribe & MORRISSEY, 2004). On the other hand, the counselor will overt contract to gather information where he feels that the customer can open up.
References
Hughes, C.G., Wells, M. (2006). Object Relations Psychotherapy: An Individualized and Interactive Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment. New York: Jason Aronson
Parrott, L., III. (2003). Counseling and psychotherapy (2nd ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Thomson/Brooks/Cole
Tribe, R., & Morrissey, J. (2004). Handbook of Professional and Ethical Practice for Psychologists, Counsellors and Psychotherapists. New York: Routledge
Ungar, M. (2011). Counseling in Challenging Contexts: Working With Individuals and Families. Belmont: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning