Critical Case Reflection 4

 

 

All names have been changed to preserve the confidentiality of clients.

 



Description:

On Wednesday, I had a new and somewhat startling experience. The night before we had received a new student in the group I was working with at Aspiro. This young man Adam, had been taken from his home in the early morning hours by a transporting agency and brought out to Aspiro on Tuesday. However, when we tried to wake Adam in the morning he would not move or respond. After checking his pulse and concluding, he was just pretending to be asleep. By afternoon, we still could not get him to move, let alone open his eyes, go to the bathroom, have a drink of water or eat anything (he had not eaten since the night before). With the help of the therapist, he finally opened his eyes and although refusing to speak agreed to write to us on a pad of paper. Through this we learned that Adam felt he had been kidnapped, traumatized, and just wanted to go home and have some real food. These was not immediately possible because we were out in the middle of nowhere, still we offered him some of the food we had. Becoming increasingly frustrated that we would not get him McDonald's (real food as he called it), or take him to the airport, Adam finally began walking out of camp. My co-guide Sean and I followed this young man who was wearing socks, a light pair of pants and long sleeve shirt. Soon the rain began to fall. Now soaked to the bone, Adam continued on until reaching the therapists cars. With his finger, he wrote out on the car, F-O-O-D, H-O-M-E, A-I-R-P-O-R-T, N-O-W! The only sounds he would make were screaming grunts, along with the pounding of fists. Soon Adam picked up rocks and began to throw them at the cars and at us. We told him that was inappropriate and encouraged him to come back out of the rain. Instead, he continued up the dirt road throwing rocks at us.
Sean told Adam that if he continues to throw rocks we were going to have to take him down to the ground by force until he calmed down. Soon I was hit by a rock and Sean jumped in front of me, pushing me back a little to communicate to him that we were serious. Right at this time, Katie, the field director was walking up the road, observing what was happening. This cute, blonde 24 year old began speaking to him in a sweet calm voice. “Hi, my name is Katie. What’s yours? I just wanted to meet you. You look cold and wet. If I get your boots for you, will you put them on? Will you put on my jacket to keep you dry? I did not come up here with any agenda; I just wanted to meet you.” With her encouragement and continuous sweet speaking, she coaxed Adam back to the camp for some warm clothes and food.


Assessment:
In my professional opinion, I believe several things were taking place. 1) With Adam, I do not believe he was trying to be intentionally defiant. Rather, I believe this was an issue of control. This is a young man who when asleep was woken and taken to an airplane, flown across the country and put in the middle of nowhere in a program that he has no understanding about, all against his own will. He was cold, wet and hungry. In order to get what he wanted and felt he needed he had to take control of the situation. The aim of his rock throwing (very low – below the knees) indicated to me that he did not desire to hurt anyone but wanted to communicate a clear message of his needs. 2) I also believe there were biological factors influencing his behavior. Adam had not eaten since the night before and this was all compounding in the afternoon of the following day. His blood sugar would have been low, and he had not had anything to drink. These factors negatively affect the body’s ability to regulate emotions and comprehend complex data. 3) Transference was also occurring towards me and anyone who seen as an authority figure because his parents who are the authority in his life had sent to Aspiro and we were the ones keeping him there.



Personal Position:
As this was occurring, I was fascinated to see the way this young man was reacting, such as refusing to speak and only writing things out. However, once he started throwing rocks and becoming more aggressive, I was scared. I had gone through the PCS training to know how to restrain someone, but I really did not want to have to touch this student because physically restraining him seemed to be what he wanted. Every time Sean would say something such as, “If you hurt someone, we are going to have to take you down to the ground,” to which Adam then picked up another rock, threw it and made sure to hit one of us. From my perspective, I thought I was trying to work with him in a helpful way by encouraging him to come back, telling him that his actions were not giving me any reason to want to help him and asking him if he thought actions similar to these were reasons his parents felt he should come to this program. This was not an effective approach and I probably aided in his escalation. Looking back at the situation and the mental and emotional state (he was feeling very vulnerable and had not eaten for a long time, which influenced his state) that Adam was in, I do not think he was in a position to be rational, let alone process the way his choices were affecting others. I thought I was trying to be helpful but in reality, I was frustrated and scared myself and allowing my emotions to move my mouth more than my social work skills.



Varying Perspective:
From Adam’s perspective, he is a kid, kidnapped in the middle of the night, taken across the country and put into a program he knows nothing about. And to top it all off it was all arranged by his parents, the ones who are suppose to love and protect him. From His perspective, he was hungry and cold. He did not have what he wanted and could not get it easily so he had to demand it as seen by his rock throwing, screaming and pounding his fist by his writings which said, “F-O-O-D, H-O-M-E, A-I-R-P-O-R-T, N-O-W!!” He wanted to go home and do all the things his parents had promised him they were going to do. But now they have sent him away and his actions really are not that bad. They get him what he wants at home even if it means hurting others. But it is not his problem because he is not the one hurt. These were all things said (well written) by Adam.
He responded well to Katie because he saw her as a neutral figure taking sincere interest in him and his needs.



Future Action:
One of the greatest things I need to work on is maintaining a heart at peace and continuously seeking for the best interest of the students. I will seek to maintain a heart a peace by reminding myself when working with a client that I am responsible to them and not for them, as well as that I am in charge of my own emotions. In order to seek the best interest of my student, I will do a CCR in my mind as I am working with them so that I can know where they are coming from and what is truly being communicated.


 

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