Client: Overview and Diagnosis

The client, Claireece Precious Jones, is a 16-year-old teenage girl who resides with her mother Mary in Harlem, New York. Ever since the age of infancy, the client has been subjected to long periods of physical, mental, and sexual abuse from both her mother and father. The client was repeatedly raped by her now deceased father, Carl, and has mothered two children as a result. The client has also contracted HIV from her father and was repeatedly re-infected by her mother due to the performance of sexual favors. For years, the client has never told anybody about the incestuous relationships she had with her parents. The client currently attends, Each One Teach One, which is a program for girls who suffer from illiteracy and is working on finding a place to live to support her and her two children.
The client is severely overweight and suffers from a serious eating disorder. The client uses food as a crutch to numb the trauma and pain that she experiences on a daily basis and the constant humiliation that she feels for being overweight. The client’s mother plays a central role when it comes to the client’s obesity. The mother forces the client to cook greasy and unhealthy food and forces the client to eat even when she is not hungry. The mother consistently calls the client fat and worthless while she eats and constantly states that no one will ever love her. The client admits that she is aware of her unhealthy eating habits and is ashamed of her weight; however the problem is uncontrollable. The client uses food to fill in the emotional void that she experiences on a daily basis. The client struggles with low self-esteem and depression. One of the main causes for the client’s depression is the mother’s constant violent and demeaning comments and the client’s issues with her obesity. Due to the extreme hatred that she feels for herself, the client repeatedly calls herself unattractive and stats that no one will ever love her. Through dissociation, the client images herself as a white skinny woman whom she believes that everybody would love and accept in society. The client’s infant is The client uses dissociation to cope with her present and past trauma. Client fantasizes about receiving love and acceptance from the people around her, especially from her mother and imaginary boyfriend. Client admits that she frequently uses dissociation to reduce the amount of trauma that she receives on a daily basis. Client also show signs of PTSD The first step that should be taken is to place the client in a safe and stable environment. By, establishing a safe environment the client will have the opportunity to recuperate and finally feel at ease for the first time. A shelter or safe-haven for young teenage mothers would be the most suitable shelter for the client. The client will have the opportunity to take parenthood classes and receive in-group therapy. Once the client is settled in to her new environment, it is crucial for her to determine whether legal actions needs to take place when it comes to her mother and what precautions to take if her mother continues to be a potential threat in her life. This will most likely cause the client a great deal of stress and turmoil due to the obvious legal actions that will be placed towards her mother; however through thoughtful planning and thinking the client will able to successfully overcome this stressful matter. After establishing a safe environment, the next step is for the client to confront her past. Due to the intense emotional and physical trauma that the client has gone through, the client needs to go to at least two sixty-minute sessions per week. When it comes to building a healthy healing relationship with the client, I feel that it is crucial for the client to feel safe and empowered. Throughout the sessions the client and I will slowly reconstruct the client’s past, starting from the very first memory that the client felt like she was in