Alana is a supervisee who has been working in your agency for a year, following her graduation from a Counseling program and receiving a Master’s degree. She recently discussed a case with you that has left her feeling angry and frustrated because the client has not made any progress. Although Alana is very motivated to help her client, she is also overwhelmed because she strongly identifies with the childhood experiences her client has shared, due to experiences Alana endured in her own childhood.
Alana’s client is a 19-year-old female with a history of cutting her own arms and legs. She was hospitalized after overdosing on non-prescription pain relievers and released 3 weeks ago. Alana completed the intake shortly after this incident.
The client has tense relationships with her mother, sister, and her roommate. She has a history of sexual abuse by her paternal uncle and physical abuse by her father. The client states she has tried to cope with her feelings through alcohol and occasionally uses marijuana, but they don’t make her feel better, so she rarely resorts to them. She is a freshman in college but failing most of her classes. The client sees Alana for counseling but continuously resists any type of therapeutic intervention.
Alana has been trying to get a more detailed client history, but the client only talks about arguments with her roommate. The client often references her recent hospitalization and expresses that she regrets not taking more non-prescription pain relievers.
Alana is concerned the client is manipulating her and isn’t serious about counseling. She doesn’t believe the client is serious about taking aspirin and that if she was serious about suicide, she would have done something more lethal the last time. She believes the client is attention-seeking. Alana has told you that she has dreamed about this case numerous times and has been searching for her client on social media to get an idea of her personality and interests. She hopes to have a better connection with her client if she can find things they have in common. Alana asks you if showing the client her own scars from cutting on her arms might help build a stronger bond.
Select a supervision model of your choice and write a supervision plan for Alana.
Complete the following in your supervision plan:
- Identify the legal and ethical issues to be addressed.
- Explain the order of priority for addressing the identified issues, based on legal and ethical standards.
- Justify your use of the supervision model to be used in the plan.
- Support your response with current research.
- Identify interventions you would choose to help Alana address the issues with her client.
- Suggest possible training or remediation strategies to minimize the possibility of these issues arising in the future.
