Theory Informed Case Presentation 

Theory Informed Case Presentation. Karyn Griswold Stephanie Hernandez Mercades Howell Katie Taylor.

Case Study: Darlene. A picture containing person, wall, indoor, hairpiece Description automatically generated.

Current Environment. Adopted by two college educated parents Values education to the point of moving to district that has a very good school system, high college acceptance rate, high graduation rate. Parents are in marital counseling: We do not know what their issues are. Possibilities: One parent might be too controlling, infidelity.

Getting to know Darlene. When you meet Darlene, she admits to smoking cigarettes and sneaking alcohol regularly from her parents’ extensive liquor cabinet. She has used marijuana and is considering trying crystal meth. Her first sexual experience was at fifteen when her parents took her on vacation. She sneaked out of the cabin when they were asleep. A ‘thirty-something’ year-old man bought her alcohol in exchange for sex. She doesn’t want to talk about it but says she is sure he thought she was 21 because that is what she told him. Darlene dislikes school, has mostly C’s and D’s, and has no desire to attend college. She is almost always in trouble for truancy or falling asleep in class. In freshman year, her class went on a field trip to a local drug rehabilitation center to deter drug use. Darlene thought it was “cool” and that it would not be so bad if she had to go there one day. Darlene’s parents are completely at a loss as to how to help her and are currently in their own marital counseling with a coworker at your agency. Darlene is fairly open and will talk with you about everything except the vacation incident..

Assess current problems:. Darlene is on probation for shoplifting, Smokes, drinks, and dislikes school. She dislikes Authority like figures.

Theories Applied to Darlene:. Systems Theory Psychodynamic Theory.