Student Case Presentation
Student History
Student N
- Student N is a white male in the fifth grade.
- No known religious affiliation or parents SES is on file.
- Has a 3.4 GPA with his highest grades being in English (82) and Social Studies (90) .
Presenting
Presenting
- Student struggles to talk to his classmates, specifically reaching out to them to do something.
- His friends will always come to sit next to him, but he will never go up and eat lunch with them.
- Dealing with the loss of a close friend who recently left the school.
- Was told the day of that he was leaving.
- My supervisor shared with me that N has a hard time opening up.
- Even though the student is not diagnosed with anything, based on our interactions in both group and individual sessions I think that N deals with mild social anxiety.
Opening Up
Developmental History
History
- Mom and Dad are divorced.
- Both remarried and have kids with their new partners.
- Currently lives with mom and step-father.
- N struggles to open up about his dad as he is no longer in the picture.
Life Circumstances
Life Circumstances
- Student lives with mom who works at the school as a nurse.
- Likes to play video games
- Friends are finding it difficult since they are always the ones to make plans.
- Receives additional one on one support to help N in his core subjects especially English and Social Studies.
- Has friends but struggles to take the intiative to talk to people
- Afraid they will not like him or will say no to hanging out.
Theoretical Framework
Session
- I used modeling in the hopes that N could practice the ability to ask someone to hang out in session and implement it on the outside.
- I tried the empty chair technique and it was ineffective.
- I focused on a CBT approach as I hope to understand the client's negative thinking.
- In future sessions I plan to look into why he thinks no one will hang out with him.
Review of Counseling
Counseling Review
- This is the first time I am meeting one on one with N.
- He is apart of a weekly lunch group with him and two of his classmates.
- I would meet with him at least three more times to discuss how we can feel more comfortable when asking his friends to do stuff and make new friends.
Progress toward counseling goals
Progess
- A goal of the session is to help N process his friend moving to Florida.
- In addition the hope is that N will eventually feel comfortable and change his self defeating mindset
- One way he could do this is through the use of homework where he would ask one friend to hang out.
Advocacy
- N could help start a video game club as this is a popular activity among N and his classmates.
- This will help him to build connections and make it easier to make friends.
Resources
Cultural Context
Cultural Context
- As a child I struggled to make friends and I understand how it can be difficult to make friends as it feels like people are being forced to talk to you.
- I also grew up in a home where my parents got divorced and remarried at his age and I can help him navigate the range of emotions he is feeling.
- I will encourage N and help him realize that he is someone who people will want to be friends with and to help him navigate and defeat these negative thoughts and establish more positive ones.
Lessons Learned
Review
- I think I did a good of being flexible
- Seeing that empty chair was not going to work I switched to another technique.
- The importance of having a neutral tone and having a conversation with the student and not becoming hyperfocused on what I would ask next.
- The importance of having a strong partnership with your colleagues
- Having the ability for them to see something with one of your students and bring it up to you.
- Did it feel like a conversation or was it too forced?
- Did I do a good job changing/being flexible when it seemed like the student did not want to participate?
- Any other things you would have done differently to handle the situation?
Feedback