Special Populations: Multicultural Case Study
Megan Horton
Adams State University

Intake Summary
Identifying Information: Anne Carter is a 17-year-old high school student who lives in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. She is currently working a part-time job at a grocery store in town.
Presenting Problem: Anne is trying to figure out where she wants to go to college. She’d like to choose a school based on her future career but she isn’t sure what that might be. She enjoys reading, writing short stories, and her favorite class is her Honors American Literature course. Anne’s parents expect her to choose a school based on a future career in business or medicine.
Current Status Information: Anne has a good attitude and is optimistic about finding help through the school counseling office. She is unsure about herself and what skills/interests she has to help guide her decisions for further schooling and a career.
Family Information: Anne lives at home with her mother and father. She has twin older brothers who are both in college. They are majoring in mathematics and pre-medicine. Her mother, Victoria is an insurance agent at a small local agency. Anne’s father, Ken is a pediatrician with a family practice office in Boston. Anne’s family attends a Protestant church in the city.
Social/Cultural issues: Anne is an Asian American. Her mother and father are second-generation Chinese immigrants. She doesn’t know how to choose a future job based on her interests because she knows that writing isn’t always a “money making job.” Her parents have always stressed the importance of making good career choices and being able to contribute to the family. She knows they would prefer she chose a dependable career that would allow her to provide for a secure future.
Career Choice/Career Development Constraints: Anne is anxious about choosing a career path that is lucrative and also involves her interests in creative writing. Her parents have expressed concern about the cost of college and the importance of scholarships for their daughter. Anne worries about making her parents proud and making sure she can live up to their high expectations. Anne holds some negative cognitions of herself. She does not have confidence that her desires or choices are valuable. She also is apprehensive about being able to pay for tuition while she is in school, she’d like to work while she’s in college but she doesn’t want to put further stress on herself.
Problem Identification: Through discussion, the presenting problem is that Anne is conflicted about choosing a school based on her interests versus her parents’ expectations. The school counselor has noted that Anne feels as if her interests in writing are not valid in her mother and father’s eyes.
Client Goals: Anne would like to talk to her parents about their expectations of her. She would like to start researching colleges and possibly choose a few programs to apply for based on her interests in pursuing a writing career. Anne also needs to begin applying for scholarships.
Assessment Summary The school counselor used the Strong Inventory assessment with Anne to help her to identify her strengths in areas other than writing and to broaden her future career options. Based on her results of (AEC- Artistic, Enterprising, Conventional) Anne is choosing to pursue a career in journalism and business communications. She believes this would be a good compromise with her parent’s wishes and her own creative pursuits. As a Chinese American daughter, Anne considers honoring her parent’s wishes one of her top priorities. Being able to choose a career that would make them proud makes discussing college with her parents much easier.
Interventions
Session 1: During the first session with Anne, her school counselor makes sure to establish a trusting relationship. Anne is visibly uncomfortable with being in the counselor’s office and needs to be reassured that anything discussed in these sessions