Case Study: Esperanza Mesa
Esperanza Mesa, a bilingual (Spanish-English) lesbian born in Durango, Mexico, is one of six children whose parents emigrated from Mexico when she was approximately 4 years old. Spanish was her first language, and she learned English in the public schools. Esperanza was an outgoing child who always doubted her self-worth.
Feeling the sting of discrimination because of her dark coloring and accent when she spoke English, she changed her name to the English translation, Hope, while in high school. When Hope was a teenager, she wondered if other teenage girls were drawn to women like she was. She succeeded in suppressing her feelings, and following her family and cultural dictates, she married and gave birth to a daughter by the age of 20.
Hope never questioned her choices and felt compelled to follow the mandates of her family and Catholicism. Without these buffers, she would have felt even more desperate when people confronted her for being a “greasy, lazy, wetback Mexican who should just go home.” As a married woman with a new baby, she felt lonely most of the time, and she knew it was not because she longed for her husband. There was a part of her that she shared with no one. She felt like she did not fit anywhere, particularly with the other wives who gathered together in the afternoon before their husbands came home. She slowly began to realize that her motivation for visiting with this group was different from that of the others and that a strange attraction was growing within her toward one of the women.
Unable to reconcile her cultural values and family loyalty with what she was thinking and feeling (including guilt and shame at wanting to put herself first), Hope told her husband about her dilemma. Hope’s traditional Mexican husband could not tolerate the option that Hope proposed—a divorce with her having full custody of their daughter. In fact, he threatened to expose her as a lesbian to her family and church and to take their daughter away.
Because Hope feared her family’s and priest’s disapproval and rejection as well as the possible loss of her daughter, she sought psychotherapy for symptoms of anxiety, insomnia, loneliness, mood swings, having sex with women in the bathrooms of bars, depression, weight loss, feeling worthless, difficulty concentrating and rage.
action and advocacy plan for Esperanza Mesa.
i. Need a 2-page action plan that you would create to help Esperanza work through the religious and family barriers to her well-being.
ii. Keep in mind the external barriers that are not contributing to her healing and sense of well-being associated to her sexual orientation, being a mother and a wife, and a member of a marginalized ethnic group.
iii. Apply the advocacy competencies to her situation. iv. How would you help her advocate at the various
systemic levels described in the advocacy competencies?
v. What would be your goals in this action and advocacy plan?
Unit 4 Assignment
This assignment reinforces information in your textbook and concepts presented in this unit. Your responses should be thorough, well-conceived college-level responses that are grammatically correct. It is recommended that you work on this assignment as you go complete your unit reading assignment and view the Power Point Presentations. Justify your responses with facts from your reading assignment. Write your answers in complete sentences. Please be sure to write your answers in your words.
Read the case study below carefully and thoroughly, then complete the assignment that follows.
Jimmy didn’t have to study much during high school in order to make good grades. When he started college, he was overwhelmed by the amount of work his instructors were assigning. He knows that he is not doing his best, but he can’t motivate himself to excel. He is passing all his classes now, but the weeks ahead are full of tests and projects. Jimmy has started to worry that he may flunk out. He is a first-generation college student, and his parents have sacrificed so much for him to further his education. They were so proud when he started college. He knows they will be devastated if he fails. Jimmy is too embarrassed to even talk about his struggles with his parents or friends. In addition to his academic worries, Jimmy is also concerned about his finances. He had to cut back his work hours in order to attend class. He would like to earn more money so that he can pay for all his expenses so as not to burden his family. What advice would you give Jimmy to help him regain his motivation and finish the semester strong?
Assignment:, address the following items in a detailed response of a Each number below should be addressed thoughtfully
Analysis: Analyze the case study and identify the biggest problem or challenge confronting Jimmy. Summarize the problem/challenge and justify why you selected this problem/challenge as the one that Jimmy should address first. (Your response should demonstrate in-depth understanding of the information given in the case study as well as concepts presented in class. Your response should address both the problem and justification.)
Inquiry: Research strategies for addressing the problem or challenge you identified above. Refer to your class textbook, course resources, and credible outside sources.
Are there relevant details or other information not provided in the case study that would have helped you better determine your solutions? What assumptions have been made?
Evaluation: Evaluate the ideas that were generated in Step 2. Given the information you do have, discuss the three BEST solutions and justify why these are the three best solutions for Jimmy at this time. Your response should demonstrate in-depth understanding of the information given in the case study as well as concepts presented in class and found in your individual research in Step 2. Your response should address both the problem, the solutions, and the justification.
Synthesis: Discuss the desired outcomes for Jimmy. How will Jimmy’s situation improve if he follows these suggestions? Communicate a clear and specific plan of action for Jimmy based on all the items discussed above and discuss the potential benefits if Jimmy follows this plan.
John is a 35 year-old seminarian who is in his first year of theology. Prior to entering the seminary, he was a special education teacher in a Catholic high school. He enjoyed working with smaller groups of students despite his anxiety about whether he was doing a good job. Since coming to the seminary, John spends most of his free time studying. When the other seminarians invite him to go out, he usually declines, stating that he has a paper due or is studying for a test. However, John seems to enjoy it when a small group of the seminarians manage to convince him to go with them to a movie.
The other seminarians have noticed that John seems to be quite anxious most of the time, and he usually appears very uptight when he has an upcoming class presentation. He generally stays up late to prepare, but when he does go to bed, he often has trouble sleeping. Although John is able to cope during these situations, he usually perspires profusely, and at times his hands shake. When a few of the seminarians teased him about having the shakes, John became extremely embarrassed and feared that they were judging him. Although John is a good student and has a real desire to be of service to others, the rector is concerned about John’s continuous worrying about his performance, his avoidance of public presentations, and his increasing withdrawal from interaction with his classmates.
When the rector spoke with John about his anxiety, John said, “I know I am more fearful than I need to be, and I’m not sure why or what to do about it
What primary presenting problems do you see in this case study?
What would be your DSM-5 diagnosis of this case?
What medication might you suggest for the client in this case? Provide the medication name, the dosage you would recommend, and what time of day you would suggest the medication be taken.
Identify the primary side effects of concern you would address with this client.
Would you recommend hospitalizing the client in this case? Explain the rationale behind your decision.
What alternative treatments might you recommend for this client to address the reported problems? What alternative medications might you suggest?
Discuss the benefits and risks of recommending anxiolytic or sedative-hypnotic drugs to assist with Father John’s sleep problems.