Agency/Case Management
1. Practice Approaches
a.) Parent or caregiver outcomes approach would be beneficial for the improved mental health functioning of Andrea to enhance the overall functioning of the family unit (Crosson-Tower, 2020). Andrea should be referred to resources to help her function as a parent. Andrea suffers from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. The caseworker should refer Andrea to a therapist who can provide treatment for her mental health conditions.. Additionally, the social worker can refer her to parenting classes to learn developmentally appropriate parenting skills (Crosson-Tower, 2020).
b.) The caseworker could help Vincent though advocacy and community-led help. Although he is undergoing traumatic situations at the moment, it would be helpful to figure out exactly what is happening to him by talking to him as well as reaching out to the community around him in order to continue having some consistency in his life. This could look like after school activities, tutoring, more one-on-one help from his teachers and so on. Community-led help may include “valuable facilitators, co-learners, and capacity builders in this process” (communityledcp 2018).
c.) The case manager should create a team to provide help and service for this family. The people on this team should involve health care providers, therapists, educational (teachers or principals), and legal. All of these people help provide various services and keep Vincent safe so he and Andrea stand a better chance of being able to stay together (Crosson-Tower, 2020, p. 304).
Clinical Treatment Facilities (therapy and counseling)
2. Treatment Approaches
a.) Trauma-focused play therapy for Vincent may be a beneficial treatment approach in therapy. Because of Vincent’s stage of cognitive development and his speech delays, it may be difficult for him to verbalize difficult emotions. By using play, a therapist can help Vincent express his emotions relating to the abuse he has experienced (Crosson-Tower, 2020). This will permit help with Vincent’s self-expression and for him to symbolically or directly act out his emotions (Senko & Bethany, 2019). This will allow Vincent to learn and explore in a safe therapeutic environment.
b.) Group-attachment based intervention (GABI) may be helpful in repairing the relationship between Vincent and Andrea. GABI has been proven to decrease the likelihood of physical assertiveness in parents and help them gain self-control over their emotions, it also helps them figure out how to praise wanted behaviors and handle unwanted behaviors in more gentle ways (Steele et al., 2019).
c.) Role-play should occur both for Vincent and Andrea in different one-on-one sessions with the social worker. Role-playing with Vincent should involve practicing dialogue that looks like healthy conversations for his age group. Role-play with Andrea should be similar, and include role-playing conversations to communicate when she feels like she needs help. Role playing helps with stress management and is especially helpful for children (Crosson-Tower, 2020, p. 325).
Bethany, H., & Senko, K.(2019). Play therapy: An illustrative case. Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, 16(5-6), 38-40. PMCID: PMC6659989
Crosson-Tower, C. (2020). Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect (10th ed.). Pearson Education (US). https://online.vitalsource.com/books/9780135170915
(n.d.). Home. Supporting Community-led Child Protection - What is a community-led approach?
Is it just a community-based approach? Retrieved April 7, 2023, from
https://communityledcp.org/faqs/what-is-a-community-led-approach-is-it-just-a-community-based-approach
Steele, H., Murphy, A., Bonuck, K., Meissner, P., & Steele, M. (2019, February 13). Randomized Control Trial Report on the effectiveness of group attachment-based intervention
(Gabi©): Improvements in the parent–child relationship not seen in the Control Group: Development and psychopathology. Cambridge Core. Retrieved April 8, 2023, from
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/development-and-psychopathology/article/abs/rAndomized-control-trial-report-on-the-effectiveness-of-group-attachmentbased-interventi
on-gabi-improvements-in-the-parentchild-relationship-not-seen-in-the-control-group/1885B261B56EA2BF9AAF147A0B527408